lpq's Journal: Need to organize+divide/expand: Win7/DRM/flavors/oils/...

this is an old MS trick -- they publish and document it when writing software for their platform -- you need to give the user feedback 'action' -- so they think the computer is doing something -- this is part of the reason why progress bars on windows jump all over the place -- they don't really indicate %done, often, but often crude estimations like trying to decide how much of your file system you've done a find through by only looking at the TLD's. Well when it gets to the "W"'s, it might take a bit longer to enumerate the Windows dir unless they build-in a pre-fudge.

The point is that Vista-V7 (aka Vista v2, windows 7) isn't going to get faster unless the hardware speeds up. MS has added some new layers of mis^h^h^hindirection between the HW and SW -- mostly for DRM purposes. They needed to secure -- and not screw it up or hollywood wouldn't trust them as a distribution platform. Just like several months back... the auto-record features built-in to media player and the Win-Media player versions -- they needed to ensure that they would properly NOT record digital broadcast programs off the air when NBC(of MSNBC) "accidently" turned on the do not allow local time-shifting or recording "flag". They want to prove the superiority of the Windows platform to deliver content by having superior DRM controls on windows which will be slow enabled over time -- but to do all that they had to totally change the driver layer -- disallowing all old XP drivers (except maybe in some degraded compat mode), and get HW manufacturers to only release MS certified drivers. Only drivers certified by MS to conform to MS's security standard will get a signature -- so only signed drivers can be used in a trusted path. It might be the case that if *any* untrusted drivers are loaded, some content providers my disallow playback. It's all about control and prying more rights away from consumers.

We are living a world with mostly fixed resources. The only way for companies to 'grow' (a requirement for businesses in the real world or die -- stagnation isn't good enough) is to further subdivide the rights you already have and and get you(the consumer) used to paying for smaller and smaller portions --

It's like in the US-NorCal region, at least, both Pepsi and Coke (thus virtually all soft drinks) switch from a common 12-pack (advertised to fit perfectly in the fridge -- it did), to an 8-pack (which doesn't, to fill up the same space you need to buy 3 packs and put one sideways in the back. Less ideal, more packaging, more waste). But it allows them to raise the price the per-unit price by 25%, while reducing the package cost by 8% (approx). You can't have major packs of food going for more than certain 'magic amounts' people are used to -- the magic amounts go up slowly, but the other way is to reduce size, and charge near the same...then slowly inch up the price again...repeat.

Perhaps it's just me, but have you ever noticed when some cracker or chip company releases a new flavor of chips or crackers or similar, they'll be bursting with flavor -- then after a promotion period where the advertiser has touted the ALL NEW EXPLOSIVELY INTENSE FLAVOR of NEW XXYZ, the stop adding as much flavoring...and slowly over a 6-12 month period the amount of flavoring drops off till you almost need a an unflavored variety eaten side-by-side to the flavored variety to detect any difference at all.

The effects on this are 'two-fold'. 1), For the consumer who craves the new taste -- they slowly need to start taking more and more of the drug, er, food, to get the same 'taste-fix'. This goes on until the new product is 'cut' too much with non-flavor stuff (white-bread cracker filler - empty carbs and unhealthy (saturated or trans) oils).

The unhealthy oils are used because because the 'healthy oils' (like hemp oil, flax-seed oil, evening primrose, some fish oils, that have Essential Daily Fatty Acids (just as "Essential" as vitamins) have short shelf-lives (on the order of dairy products). One of the main characteristics that make them healthy and essential in your body are their chemical instability -- your body can use them to create necessary components. Unfortunately this isn't good for product shelf life. Pure hemp or flax seed oil where health is concerned are sold in dark bottles (light proof), and sometimes sealed with Nitrogen -- and even then are kept in the refrigerated sections and have a stamped expiration date measured in a few-several weeks (depending on how they were packaged and refined). An excellent book on the oils and fatty acids "Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill: The Complete Guide to Fats, Oils Cholesterol and Human Health". The author also sells his own mixture to take advantage of the hype, but the best (as measured by ideal balance of EA's for humans) oil(hemp) and the close competitors are available slightly less expensively, but still at stiff prices due to government control (legality of Hemp, for example).
Anyway -- once the manufacturer notices that his customers are falling off -- because the "flavor" component is too low to support a "flavor craving" habit -- (cut w/too much non-flavor) -- they restart the cycle. New add campaign -- about the "whole new and improved" product xxyzz, with more flavor than ever -- it's a BLAST". So you try it again, because you liked the flavor -- and if it is the drug^h^h^h^h flavor of choice that stimulates your endorphins -- then you are hooked again. The process repeats...ad infinitum.

Some products are easier to manipulate in cycles, than others. The leap from records to 8-tracks was a poor first media attempt, and cassettes were as much of an annoyance as a help -- but CD's offered the 1st big thing. VHS -> DVD was the first successful transition in video -- now they sell entire seasons of some shows for Gini coefficients too high for the masses to afford the new tech) and insufficient driving reason. As in the record/LP industry->CD conversion, it may take a few years to raise the prices of the DVD's to meet Blue Ray -- once they are equal, people will eventually convert and (the industry hopes) rebuy all the movies you already have in the new format.

With videos -- even songs, though, even stronger subdivisions are already being marketed and sold as common to a younger generation -- who's now used to buying songs by the 1-at-a-time 1$/ea, but then repaying to have it on their cell phone, or repaying again to have it as a ringtone, and in some cases -- (usually business models that have, so far, failed, but they will keep trying) charging per-device -- or, the Holy Grail -- charging you the full retail price each time you want to view or listen to the media.

Thus Vista-2 (win7) is another attempt to convince people to switch over to the "new secure" platform where Windows hopes to allow content providers to provide the detailed level of control they crave -- it will then only be a matter of market acceptance -- playing with price and availability to continually raise prices and lower expectations among new users. The older users who are used to full access will always whine and complain, but those who have grown up on the iPod generation -- just downloading songs on the whim, one at a time, will be easier to nudge into pay-per-device and pay-per-view models.

The sad thing about it -- is that most of it is not about providing new features and new value to users -- it's just about realigning their perceptions so you can continue to get value out of capital assets (IP) that you already own -- then you've basically set yourself up as a 'service provider' that can get a payment from you monthly whether you use the service or not -- an even better state to be in than charge for even a electronic-evaporating song or video.

Why spend money in R&D to develop newer & better (which, being a creative process is not a stable business model) when you can just spend your R&D in better ways money extraction?