Forget the fact that his "service" is still better than any of the competing app stores out there. He is focused on seervice and price, and you are focused on access control. His opnion is that access control (DRM) done will is not poor service. And, as much as I hate DRM, he is doing it very well. Unlike Google Play that gives me loads of problems.

Only if you look at it as a sale, rather than a service. With DRM, it is never really a sale.

Much as I hate DRM, Gabe has worked very hard at keeping his DRM out of the way of paying customers. He has also worked very hard at building a platform for delivering content is a very easy and trouble free way. Not very RMS friendly, but VERY customer focused, and I can respect that. (Enough, actually that I have the Linux Steam client on my machine right now.)

I agree that you are looking at the wrong numbers. Who cares how many people are reading (pirating) it? You should only care about how many people are paying for it, and work to increase that number. One thing that comes to mind is special deals with advertisers that are keyed off the individual user name. Don't have a paid account? Don't get 15% off a widget... This could also be more advertising revenue.

And if you take a survey are an F1 drivers meeting, they may be correct.

For example, do you measure quantity? (Reality television) or Quality? (Blade Runner) Finding a widely a accepted benchmark might prove to be a challenge...

That and the fact that the slashdot audience is heavily skewed towards geeks, (or at least it was) And the best geeks are not only intelligent, but able to put things together in new and interesting combinations... So it would be more than average here. And less than average on a Jersey Shore forum.

I have seen a correlation as well. I have always had a knack for spatial relations, and some of the best IT folks I know do as well. I know it is anecdotal, but a large collection of anecdotal evidence is called data. :)

Not the entire language, but translating NSA into a few dozen languages is doable.

And yet... http://yro.slashdot.org/story/13/07/15/0220245/nsa-spying-hurts-californias-business More people do care, and it is costing people money.

My point is that with the new admission that all cell phone carriers are plugged directly into the NSA, a hell of a lot of people suddenly do care!

In all seriousness, the level of trust people have for phone companies is at an all time low, and now you have this "handy assistant" with you all the time. While it sounds like cool technology, I don't trust ANY of the players involved, and I doubt I am the only one.

I can't see anything bad coming of this...

Same thing... Shit only rises to the top of a sea of shit, not a sea of quality.

So what major upload you own song streaming site do you use?