Bill Gates Swears Vow Against 'Son of iPod' 393
Future Linux-Guru writes "The LA Times is running an article on Microsoft's efforts to preempt any single manufacturer from dominating the online video market. Among the scarier revelations is the development of AACS, a new already approved security system designed to prevent piracy on HD DVDs, which subjects users to forced upgrades." From the article: "Whichever way it shakes out, Gates vows not to play the victim in 'Son of iPod.' After learning a hard lesson in the digital music business, 'we're really having to work more closely with partners in the hardware industry and content industry, to really think through the whole end-to-end experience and make it better,' Gates said. 'That's where we've done our mea culpa. We are fixing that.'"
Re:Define Paradoxical (Score:3, Informative)
irony ('r-n, 'r-) pronunciation
n., pl. -nies.
1.
a. The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning.
b. An expression or utterance marked by a deliberate contrast between apparent and intended meaning.
c. A literary style employing such contrasts for humorous or rhetorical effect. See synonyms at wit1.
2.
a. Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs: "Hyde noted the irony of Ireland's copying the nation she most hated" (Richard Kain).
b. An occurrence, result, or circumstance notable for such incongruity. See Usage Note at ironic.
The trouble with the black market (Score:1, Informative)
In Britain for instance, the same people who are making vast profits from pirate DVDs and games are people smuggling, selling hard drugs, running child prostitution and exploitation networks in war torn places like Bosnia. They take the profits from their pirate business to help out the other parts. If it comes to a straight choice between murderers, drug dealers and paedophiles and big media companies, all jokes aside, I'd rather give my money to the CEO.
People need to be aware where the money is going, before they make the moral argument for piracy of goods.
gah! typo. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Son of iPod? (Score:4, Informative)
Ah, no. THe iPod equivalent for "movies" will be whomever has their PDA/dedicated device linked to an easy to use store/download center first.
It might be a video iPod. It might be a palm lifedrive. It might be a Windows Mobile device. Or, it might just be the PSP.
The one thing I'm sure it won't be is a laptop.
Re:Son of iPod? (Score:5, Informative)
Nope, what would be interesting is something like the Mitsubishi Pocket LED DLP Projector http://www.mitsubishi-presentations.com/proj_pock
Re:Think it won't work? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:The trouble with the black market (Score:5, Informative)
So actually, the Digital Restrictions being Managed by Apple, MSFT, and the record and movie houses is leveled directly at you, not the black marketeer.
Re:Son of iPod? (Score:2, Informative)
Movies are a whole other ball of wax, though. There are literally dozens of different codecs, with no clear winner, and no way of telling which codec you'll need just from looking at the file name. If (for instance) you have an ogg player and an ogg file, you know that you'll be able to listen to your music. But, if you have an mpeg file, you can't know if it'll work with your mpeg player without trying it. If it work, you may or may not be able to find the proper codec.
These are serious issues that need to be addressed before we can have a universal portable movie file player. Of course, if you just want to lock people into one particular codec, then it's no problem.
Re:Son of iPod? (Score:3, Informative)
250 lux? That's a Flat White Surface in a pitch Black Room.
The correct answer was 'lasers' but they're not quite on the market yet.
Re:Here we go, aiming at our foot again (Score:3, Informative)
100 Million dollars. [wikipedia.org]
That is the limit of physical wealth. Beyond that, you don't buy things, you make big events and buildings 'happen'. But for the actual cushy lifestyle there is no difference between a person with 100 Million and 1+ Billion.