I don't know how this is going to be good for Adobe in the long run. It smells a little like the HP/Compaq fiasco.
A few thoughts:
1. Many of the companies' offerings are substitution goods. Most web developers I know are shelling out for the MM Studio MX upgrades and the Adobe CS upgrades. That works out to about $1000 every year. I doubt one company will be able to squeeze us for as much in a single upgrade cycle. Especially when there's so much overlap (GoLive v. Dreamweaver, FreeHand v. Illustrator, Fireworks v. Photoshop & Illustrator, etc.)
2. Apple is going to have to be a little more careful about trying not to piss off Adobe by walking into their turf. Adobe has a bigger credible threat now in terms of ending Mac support.
3. This is going to make design shops hesitant to buy CS2 upgrades. I, for one, am more likely to wait for a suite that has the specific Macromedia apps I need for web development. That might mean waiting out this one upgrade cycle.
4. This does eliminate Adobe's fear that Microsoft would acquire Macromedia. That might be the only good reason for the buyout.
I picked up the director's cut of THX 1138 a few weeks ago. I hadn't seen the film in a number of years and I was blown away.
It's actually quite remarkable how well it has aged. While other "dystopian-vision" sci-fi films from the 1970s look dated to the point of being almost laughable now (Logan's Run, A Clockwork Orange, Soylent Green), THX 1138 looks as if it could have been made yesterday.
Robert Duvall's performance was understated and brilliant. Walter Murch's sound design was hypnotic and unyielding. The screenplay didn't get in the way by awkwardly offering too much exposition (as is often the case in sci-fi films). And every shot was framed with obvious deliberation.
I'm going to make a few enemies here, but the experience left me wondering how such a talented filmmaker managed to produce Star Wars, an abomination of poor-acting and screenwriting rescued only through its sheer campiness.
I worked in a congressional office many years ago. Let me tell you that shit rolls downhill. Most politicians personally don't care what Stern says, or whether Janet bares her nipple.
But the old people call and complain. THOUSANDS OF THEM. And they vote. So the congressmen call the FCC.
If you want to fix things, we need some serious Logan's Run action.;-)
Powell is pretty damn good. Did anyone see his appearance on TechTV's The Screen Savers last year? He talked up TiVo and Vonage. He's not some reactionary idiot defending outmoded business models. Last time I checked it looked as if he *IS* using quite a bit of capital against the telecom interests.
If the majority of the people (democracy) want to shove a SMALL MINORITY OF PEOPLE IN OVENS, why not grant it?
Democracy is BS. At least our founders were smart enough to recognize this (read The Federalist Papers) and create mechanisms to protect us from ourselves.
Tom Hipschen, the lead portrait engraver at the Bureau, happens to be a friend of my uncle. My wife and I once had the pleasure of having dinner with him.
I was amazed to learn that the engravings are *not* mechanically reduced. The engravers actually work at the scale you see on a note. It's pretty damn amazing actually.
I asked him how it felt to see bad (counterfeit) copies of his artwork. He said it bothered him much more to see good (counterfeit) copies of his artwork.
Mod this up. It's an important concept people don't understand.
Here's another example. Are CD's overpriced at $15? If the price was lowered to $5, would you sell MORE than 3 times as many units to generate higher TOTAL earnings?
People like their old games, and you can get them to buy them for the new consoles. I just bought Namco Museum for the XBOX. I paid $20 for a disc with 10 ganes that are all 20 years old.
Yes, I could run MAME on my PC, but this is less hassle, and it's legal to boot.
If Nintendo released a CD for GameCube with Duck Hunt, Metroid, Kid Icarus, and Super Mario Bros. on it, a hell of a lot of people would consider buy it. People don't want 6 console systems hooked up, but they want to play their old games.
If the games are good, people will buy them for a new platform, even if they are not the latest and greatest.
Says the Constitution of the United States of America:
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.
The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted.
You could probably make a good claim that 1) linking to bomb-making instructions and 2) advocacy of the ovethrow of the government constitutes "aid" to enemies of the United States.
Treason is explicitly defined as a capital crime. The dude is pretty lucky he only ended up with a year in jail--not to say that he should have.
Google-watch is kooky as hell, but do any of you really think that Google wasn't at the top of the government's list after the Patriot Act passed?
The U.S. government now has the right to access Google's user logs and the worst part is that the company can't even tell anyone about it (under threat of imprisonment).
Even though the plastic is 3 times more expensive than galvanized metal, it could still be more economical in the long run. A plastic body could result in a lighter car with better gas mileage (that's cheaper to run).
But I'd also worry about the possibility of a lighter car being less safe.
Slashdot Mirror
This is actually somewhat interesting if you regard the whole affair as performance art, and not actual research.
If Adobe and Macromedia pulled Mac support, design professionals would grudgingly just buy PCs.
The software costs more than the hardware.
Adobe would lose some sales, but their costs would drop dramatically.
I don't know how this is going to be good for Adobe in the long run. It smells a little like the HP/Compaq fiasco.
A few thoughts:
1. Many of the companies' offerings are substitution goods. Most web developers I know are shelling out for the MM Studio MX upgrades and the Adobe CS upgrades. That works out to about $1000 every year. I doubt one company will be able to squeeze us for as much in a single upgrade cycle. Especially when there's so much overlap (GoLive v. Dreamweaver, FreeHand v. Illustrator, Fireworks v. Photoshop & Illustrator, etc.)
2. Apple is going to have to be a little more careful about trying not to piss off Adobe by walking into their turf. Adobe has a bigger credible threat now in terms of ending Mac support.
3. This is going to make design shops hesitant to buy CS2 upgrades. I, for one, am more likely to wait for a suite that has the specific Macromedia apps I need for web development. That might mean waiting out this one upgrade cycle.
4. This does eliminate Adobe's fear that Microsoft would acquire Macromedia. That might be the only good reason for the buyout.
I see him around at the bars in Georgetown occasionally. He really knows how to drink.
For that, I salute him.
I'm sure she would still look great in the outfit, almost 30 years later.
I picked up the director's cut of THX 1138 a few weeks ago. I hadn't seen the film in a number of years and I was blown away.
It's actually quite remarkable how well it has aged. While other "dystopian-vision" sci-fi films from the 1970s look dated to the point of being almost laughable now (Logan's Run, A Clockwork Orange, Soylent Green), THX 1138 looks as if it could have been made yesterday.
Robert Duvall's performance was understated and brilliant. Walter Murch's sound design was hypnotic and unyielding. The screenplay didn't get in the way by awkwardly offering too much exposition (as is often the case in sci-fi films). And every shot was framed with obvious deliberation.
I'm going to make a few enemies here, but the experience left me wondering how such a talented filmmaker managed to produce Star Wars, an abomination of poor-acting and screenwriting rescued only through its sheer campiness.
And why do you people fixate on it?
There are regional bells left to "go quietly into the night?"
I thought they had all been acquired slowly by SBC?
I worked in a congressional office many years ago. Let me tell you that shit rolls downhill. Most politicians personally don't care what Stern says, or whether Janet bares her nipple.
;-)
But the old people call and complain. THOUSANDS OF THEM. And they vote. So the congressmen call the FCC.
If you want to fix things, we need some serious Logan's Run action.
Powell is pretty damn good. Did anyone see his appearance on TechTV's The Screen Savers last year? He talked up TiVo and Vonage. He's not some reactionary idiot defending outmoded business models. Last time I checked it looked as if he *IS* using quite a bit of capital against the telecom interests.
Be a little grateful you asshats.
It's probably based on the number of Centrino mobile equipped laptops sold by each University's computer/book store.
I'll tell you why...
If the majority of the people (democracy) want to shove a SMALL MINORITY OF PEOPLE IN OVENS, why not grant it?
Democracy is BS. At least our founders were smart enough to recognize this (read The Federalist Papers) and create mechanisms to protect us from ourselves.
Imagine an Full-time temp hired by Apple posted photos of someone unloading wintel boxes at Cupertino to their blog.
They would be canned immediately as well.
Tom Hipschen, the lead portrait engraver at the Bureau, happens to be a friend of my uncle. My wife and I once had the pleasure of having dinner with him.
I was amazed to learn that the engravings are *not* mechanically reduced. The engravers actually work at the scale you see on a note. It's pretty damn amazing actually.
I asked him how it felt to see bad (counterfeit) copies of his artwork. He said it bothered him much more to see good (counterfeit) copies of his artwork.
Mod this up. It's an important concept people don't understand.
Here's another example. Are CD's overpriced at $15? If the price was lowered to $5, would you sell MORE than 3 times as many units to generate higher TOTAL earnings?
People like their old games, and you can get them to buy them for the new consoles. I just bought Namco Museum for the XBOX. I paid $20 for a disc with 10 ganes that are all 20 years old.
Yes, I could run MAME on my PC, but this is less hassle, and it's legal to boot.
If Nintendo released a CD for GameCube with Duck Hunt, Metroid, Kid Icarus, and Super Mario Bros. on it, a hell of a lot of people would consider buy it. People don't want 6 console systems hooked up, but they want to play their old games.
If the games are good, people will buy them for a new platform, even if they are not the latest and greatest.
This is a CSI episode waiting to happen.
Says the Constitution of the United States of America:
You could probably make a good claim that 1) linking to bomb-making instructions and 2) advocacy of the ovethrow of the government constitutes "aid" to enemies of the United States.
Treason is explicitly defined as a capital crime. The dude is pretty lucky he only ended up with a year in jail--not to say that he should have.
Sorry, I can't recommend a good book. I just managed to marry an English teacher.
This is an off-topic point but size comes before color when ordering adjectives.
You don't say [count] [color] [size] because it sounds funny.
Example: thirteen red big dogs
Instead you say [count] [size] [color]
Example: thirteen big red dogs
The order is as follows:
opinion adjectives: general/specific
descriptive adjectives: size/age/shape/colour/nationality/material
Song of the South is between 55 and 75 years old and Disney apparently doesn't see any commercial value in that.
Instead of whining about not being able to listen to your home music at work, why don't ypu just use rsync to keep your iTunes music folders synced?
Don't you think Sun's already tested JBoss? Why would they make statements like that and then end up with egg on their faces?
Google-watch is kooky as hell, but do any of you really think that Google wasn't at the top of the government's list after the Patriot Act passed?
The U.S. government now has the right to access Google's user logs and the worst part is that the company can't even tell anyone about it (under threat of imprisonment).
I'll be truly impressed when a computer can show the creativity necessary to beat Bobby Fischer at developing crackpot political theories.
Even though the plastic is 3 times more expensive than galvanized metal, it could still be more economical in the long run. A plastic body could result in a lighter car with better gas mileage (that's cheaper to run).
But I'd also worry about the possibility of a lighter car being less safe.
"Anyone want to start a peroxide business?"
Might as well be translated as:
"Does anyone want to start a business that will have its customer database searched routinely under the Patriot Act?"