CyberLeader - Slashdot User

Comment Embracing the disruption (Score 4, Interesting) 481

by CyberLeader on Monday September 19, 2011 @09:35AM (#37440224) Attached to: Netflix Creates Qwikster For DVD Only Business

So we here in the Slashdot crowd are the first ones to laugh at businesses that fail to stay ahead of the technology curve. AOL and their endless CDs, RIM getting destroyed by iPhones and Android phones, Yahoo's failure to recognize that Google's advantage comes from more than just its search algorithms, et al. A common theme through all of these dramatic implosions is that the old business model strangled the new, and that the leadership of these companies was unwilling to take the short-term pain hit to prepare for the future. Yet Netflix is doing just that, and they meet with even more derision because it's going to screw up the existing customer base.

Do any of us believe that DVDs via USPS are the future of content delivery? Of course not. Could Netflix have spun it a little better? Sure, but there's a whole set of reasons that moving away from your established business model is considered painful, and one of those is that it's going to piss off the established base and cost you some lost business. A little more artistry in the transition would have been nice, but anyone who thinks that this move is going to kill off Netflix is probably mistaken. They are being remarkably honest about it all.

The DVD business is dying fast, and they know it. Direct content delivery is the growth industry that is disrupting DVDs (and eventually CDs, games, and packaged software) out of existence, and they're jumping to the new ship before the old one is sunk.

Submission + - Malware authors learn from the best (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by Earthquake Retrofit on Friday March 12, 2010 @05:27PM

Earthquake Retrofit writes: The Register http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/12/new_zeus_features/ has a rather funny story about the Zeus botnet: 'The latest version of the Zeus do-it-yourself crimeware kit goes to great lengths to thwart would-be pirates by introducing a hardware-based product activation scheme similar to what's found in Microsoft Windows... They've also pushed out multiple flavors of the package that vary in price depending on the capabilities it offers. Just as Windows users can choose between the lower-priced Windows 7 Starter or the more costly Windows 7 Business, bot masters have multiple options for Zeus.'

Submission + - French investigating 'exploding' iPhones

Submitted by krou on Wednesday August 26, 2009 @03:07PM

krou writes: The BBC is reporting that French consumer groups are investigating cases of spontaneously exploding and cracking iPhones. 8 people are believed to have been effected so far. The most recent case is Rolland Caufman, an 80-year old pensioner, who claimed 'I took it out of my pocket and held it to my ear and saw the screen crack up like a car windscreen'. Previously, 'a 26-year-old security guard claimed he was hit in the eye with a glass shard when his Iphone screen cracked up.' He is believed to be suing for damages. This comes after an earlier EU investigation after similar reports in the UK, Holland and Sweden. The report also mentions accusations that Apple are trying to hush up incidents where iPods and iPhones have heated up or burst into flames, particularly in the case of Ken Stanborough and his daughter, who 'have accused the firm of trying to silence them with a gagging order after the child's iPod exploded and the family sought a refund'. Apple has so far not commented on the incidents in France, saying, 'We are waiting to receive the iPhones from the customers. Until we have the full details, we don't have anything further to add.'

Comment Re:Fonzi'd (Score 1) 798

by CyberLeader on Monday March 16, 2009 @06:25PM (#27218129) Attached to: Sci Fi Channel Becoming Less Geek-Centric "SyFy"

SciFi jumped the shark when they canceled Farscape. How can you argue with a show where a giant mushroom Muppet pilots a living starship full of hot blue and gray women, an alien warrior with a six foot tongue, a lost Earthman, and his almost-but-not-exactly-human girlfriend, all while being chased by a guy who looks like an anorexic with an S&M fetish?

Slashdot Top Deals