You have to work pretty hard to install apps on an iPhone that DON'T come from the Apple App Store(tm). You have to use a security hole in the OS to root it and install a modified OS. You void your warranty, you open your phone up to potential security issues, and you have to battle with it each time Apple releases an iOS update. With Android, you select the "Allow install of 3rd-party apps" checkbox, and you can install an app from any old website. Super-easy!
So yeah, there's going to be a lot more piracy on Android; the barrier is really low. I don't think it has anything to do with the relative costs of the devices, they're pretty much the same. It's still ridiculous that people pirate a $2 app - just eat one less donut this week, jackoffs.
The Wii can at least play DVDs. I bought the PS3 in large part because it can play BluRay disks, the only HD disk format in use. It's easier to justify paying ~$100 more than a stand-alone BluRay player and get a high-end gaming system. Without that, the Wii U has to completely stand on its own as a gaming system, taking up more space in your crowded cabinet. Maybe they have better data than I, and know that everybody that would want a BluRay player already has one.
I hope they'll at least play nice with Netflix streaming, Amazon On Demand, and such. I could buy that a large chunk of the population might skip BluRay disks altogether and just watch streaming movies and shows.
Free market, indeed. Sometimes I wish our CRTC had balls like the FCC.
Really? That's pretty much the saddest thing I've ever heard!
You hit a nerve with me. I wanted to watch a movie earlier in the week, and I hadn't changed my password or done the update yet since the whole PSN debacle. It didn't even register that there was a BluRay disk in the slot. After resetting my password and doing the mandatory software update, I could finally watch the movie. Thanks, Sony.
(sigh) It still works better than my old Samsung BluRay player, which I had to ship back to them a couple of times, and I like that I can play a game occasionally when I have time, so I'll stick with it. I really think that if the XBOX 360 had a BluRay drive (even as an add-on), Sony would not be selling nearly as many PS3s.
Couldn't they have used the email address on the account to send a security token, something like that?
"An email has been sent to ********@yahoo.com with your confirmation code. Please check your email and enter this code to continue."
Overall, wow - using the stolen information to re-register your account? Why bother making people change their password then? Heaping spoonful of FAIL.
And they could, at any time, decide to change the rules for the disks you get shipped from J. Random & Sons. Make them licensed, not pwned. They were #fail in their old post-hoc EULA attempt at it, but if they make you physically sign a contract before you can take delivery, you may no longer be able to say you own it just because you bought it.
If they could do that, they would, wouldn't they? The studios bent Blockbuster and Netflix over the barrel and made them buy "rentable" versions, sure. But once Netflix has bought them, they're pretty much free to use them as they wish, rent them out to as many people as they want. The studios can't retroactively go back and say "hey, that movie from the 1990's that is suddenly popular? Pull it out of circulation." Also look at Redbox - they're independently owned, and the owners generally just go to Walmart and buy the movies and rent them out to people. There's nothing the studios can do about it. The only weapon the studios have is the time window. They'll sell the movies to Blockbuster first (at a higher price) and hold off selling them to Walmart for a few months.
For digital, they have a lot more control for some reason, even though it should be the same thing. I see stuff disappear off of Netflix Streaming all of the time.
This would require me to plan ahead what I'm going to watch that night. In which case, I could just plan ahead a couple of days, and get the DVD itself. The beauty of Netflix streaming is that I can watch whatever the hell I feel like whenever I want. Hung over Saturday morning? Watch a bunch of episodes of an old show you missed. Want something on while you're doing homework? Watch a dumb zombie action flick.
The real Netflix fix is for broadband companies to get off their collective asses and invest in their infrastructure. I live in Chicago, one of the most densely populated cities in North America, and my broadband speeds are middle of the road compared to most of the world, and yet more expensive. And even so, I can watch HD movies on Netflix streaming after only a few seconds of buffering.
God help those who do not help themselves. -- Wilson Mizner