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Comment Hopefully they solve the ID problem (Score 1) 63

Hopefully, they'll think about the problem of multiple simultaneous PSN connections. Right now, I have two PS3's and any given PS3 WANTS to be connected to PSN all the time (for news, licensing, downloads, multiplayer, etc, etc) but logging one in under my master account logs the other out. This is a Supreme pain in the butt if I want to play a game in one room while my kids play one in the other. I can only imagine what a mess it'd be if the TV (and the stereo and the PSP and the toaster, etc) wanted exclusive access to the ID, too.

It's not UTTERLY broken... there is a sub account feature for PSN for child accounts and stuff but I think it's really clear that they never planned on people owning multiple PS3s or having their entire home theater logged in or it'd be architected more sensibly.
 

Comment Re:Its justified price (Score 1) 536

> Some good points deleted....

I think digital delivery is something that can bring this price down a lot.

The downside to Digital Delivery is that for most devices this gives the hardware manufacturer a "lock" on distribution to completely control price (witness Apple, although they've been smart about it and not gouged). There is no longer any competition (except between H/W manufacturers) they can set the price on stuff and there is no competition among content producers or used markets, or retailers, anymore, once established, the manufacturer can completely dictate retail prices to the developers.

So, the cynical side of me suspects that system providers will simply use the lack of physical media to boost profit margins and pocket the difference rather than significantly dropping the "standard" price for goods once consumers are locked in. I would imagine the millions of copies that console games sell allow a significant economy of scale for manufacturers.

You'll also probably see more of this trend where the initial game is half complete/low content and then you buy the rest of it in bits and pieces via DLC, too. We'll see if they drop the price in that scenario, so far the track record has not been good.

I agree about development costs going up for developers.

It seems that if the manufacturers are eliminating manufacturing and distribution costs for the publishers, that just leaves marketing as their only really useful function (assuming they are decoupled from the "studio").

Comment Re:Technology still too slow (Score 1) 508

This, fundamentally, is what the fight over privacy is about: It's not what we are (or are not) that matters, but rather the correlations between those facts and the social meanings and messages attached to them. The fight for privacy is really founded upon the belief that the average person is insecure, full of prejudice and bile, and is generally a manipulative bastard who'll stab you in the back given half a chance.

And I can't find any fault in that statement. Most people are, and thus... Privacy will remain an important thing to fight for so long as we have reason to fight amongst ourselves.

I'm not embarrassed that I take the occasional shit, but I still close the door when I do it. It's okay to want privacy, even in a perfect society. I want personal privacy anytime I don't want matters on public display. And people have a right to it, IMHO.

The desire for privacy is not, in general, about the belief that other people are prejudiced or accuracy of social meanings attached to identities, etc. If I have a brain tumor, I want it to be a private matter because it is not a public matter and I want to manage it in a private way. I'd like my social security number to remain private.There are lots of legitimate reasons to want privacy; it does not boil down to some essential 'root cause'. A Utopia would include privacy, it would simply not be violated. ;)

I think by trying to overgeneralize privacy concerns as being "about" some systemic societal flaw and trying to boil it down to some simple maxim, you've done the issue and yourself a disservice. What you're saying may apply to things like sexual orientation but I think that is just one piece of the overall puzzle.

Comment Re:A Sickening State of Affairs (Score 1) 325

I am really disgusted that a movie studio (yeah, MPAA sucks, etc.) needs to get permission from the bottom-feeding welfare leaches of a long-deceased author to make a film. Worse yet, they have to pay for the privilege.

Those people you call "bottom-feeding welfare leaches of a long-deceased author" are responsible for making sure that the author's legacy and work maintain their original integrity and artistic vision. You know, stuff like that tastefully done Rankin and Bass musical cartoon version of the Hobbit that makes me want to claw my own eyes out with a spork that they green-lighted when I was a kid (a period in my life when thankfully my parents had the good sense to keep the sporks locked away safely in a cabinet).
 

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