Anyone who is a CEO or holds any other senior management post at (almost) any corporation is - first and foremost - someone who can lie with a straight face. Someone who can lie so convincingly that they can make you question your grasp on reality.
Tim obviously didn't want to go there, but I will. I think that the most likely explanation for her unwillingness to provide data is simply that she has none, and the numbers she talked about ($30K, millions) came out of her ass. If those numbers had any basis in reality, she would have provided them. It's not that I don't sympathize, but based on her statements, I have serious doubts.
Assuming they ever pull their collective heads out of their asses and stops wasting money on copy protection, it's going to take EA a long time to regain any customer goodwill lost by years of abuse. People who wouldn't normally download pirated games will do so simply out of spite. Allowing their games to be easier to pirate is still EA's best long-term strategy, but in the short term, they are going to lose more to piracy than your average game publisher, even after they smarten up.
Krug's book, "Don't Make Me Think", was the reason I had to break up long pages in a previous job. I hated needless pagination then, and I still hate it. However, I'm increasingly convinced that it's a personal preference, and there's no 'right' way to do it. In a perfect world, all sites would offer both options and a browser preference would set my default for all sites.
Willingly, true, but at the time there was no other way to achieve 'success'. Yes, the band no doubt benefited: being such a big act, they surely recouped and made some money. But if you compared the amount made by the band with what the label (and their cronies) made from the band, you'd rethink your statement.
As this is one of my favourite films, I've been looking for a high definition version for a while now. Perhaps this explains why my search has come up empty so far.
For this suggestion of goading to make any sense, the people doing the goading would have needed to find or create security vulnerabilities on their web sites/servers. Nobody would do that. "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor)
My sister wrote the following in response to SOPA (sung to the tune of The Battle Hymn of the Republic):
Mine eyes have seen the glory of an internet that’s free
… free in Yemen, and Oaxaca, also free to you and me
Not speaking of who pays for it, but human liberty
The Internet is free!
Lobbyists take sand and pound it
Leave the net the way you found it
We will learn to route around it!
The Internet is free!
You’ve woken up a Golem you will never ever stop
When under-20s get it they will fight you till they drop
What kind of harvest will you get with ignorance the crop?
The Internet is free!
Anyone who is surprised when a cop lies just hasn't been around cops very much. Cops' lying is a natural reaction to how much lying they face every day from the people they normally deal with. Which is not to excuse it by any means. In fact, I feel that cops should be held to a much higher standard of behaviour than us 'little people' because of their position of trust and the fact that they have so much power over us. If a cop decides they don't like you, they can - quite simply - destroy your life.
Because they are publicly-traded companies, which means that management is responsible to the shareholder. They cannot and will not make a change that they know will reduce the company's profit, until such time as there is no other option. Some won't do it even then, and those companies will die.
This ridiculous 'feature' with the cutesy name (I can just imagine the marketing meeting where they dreamed up that one) sends a message to potential (and actual) customers: "We think you're a criminal." They're going to lose a lot more customers than the hobbyists. The only company that can get away with this sort of crap is Apple, and that's only because the same idiots keep buying Apple's stuff and will never be swayed.
When this revolution is over, musicians will be - quite rightly - in control. The labels will provide services to musicians, including recording, promotion, tour organization, and so on. Some bands won't use the labels at all (think Radiohead), while others use the labels to do the stuff they aren't interested in doing themselves. Very few will continue to let the labels do everything, but even those artists will still be in control and make more money from their own creativity than the labels. The digital revolution is Pandora's Box, baby. Eventually all musicians will realize all they have to do is tell the labels to take a hike, and the labels will crawl back for any kind of deal they can get. Because the labels no longer control the process. The labels will still be profitable, just not obscenely so.
Whenever I read this kind of thing, I try to imagine what the world would be like if these bozos got everything they wanted. The only real winners in the resulting Orwellian landscape would be - as usual - lawyers. Every other person would be a lawyer. ::shudders::
The most important requirement for becoming a corporate executive
Anyone who is a CEO or holds any other senior management post at (almost) any corporation is - first and foremost - someone who can lie with a straight face. Someone who can lie so convincingly that they can make you question your grasp on reality.
The simplest explanation
Tim obviously didn't want to go there, but I will. I think that the most likely explanation for her unwillingness to provide data is simply that she has none, and the numbers she talked about ($30K, millions) came out of her ass. If those numbers had any basis in reality, she would have provided them. It's not that I don't sympathize, but based on her statements, I have serious doubts.
Making matters worse for EA...
Assuming they ever pull their collective heads out of their asses and stops wasting money on copy protection, it's going to take EA a long time to regain any customer goodwill lost by years of abuse. People who wouldn't normally download pirated games will do so simply out of spite. Allowing their games to be easier to pirate is still EA's best long-term strategy, but in the short term, they are going to lose more to piracy than your average game publisher, even after they smarten up.
Keanu took a pay cut to get Pacino hired
Interestingly, Keanu paid big bucks to have the privilege of being blown away by Pacino in that movie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keanu_Reeves#1990s
I blame Steve Krug
Krug's book, "Don't Make Me Think", was the reason I had to break up long pages in a previous job. I hated needless pagination then, and I still hate it. However, I'm increasingly convinced that it's a personal preference, and there's no 'right' way to do it. In a perfect world, all sites would offer both options and a browser preference would set my default for all sites.
Re: (AC neglected to enter a subject)
Willingly, true, but at the time there was no other way to achieve 'success'. Yes, the band no doubt benefited: being such a big act, they surely recouped and made some money. But if you compared the amount made by the band with what the label (and their cronies) made from the band, you'd rethink your statement.
That explains why I haven't been able to find a high def version
As this is one of my favourite films, I've been looking for a high definition version for a while now. Perhaps this explains why my search has come up empty so far.
Component vs. HDMI
I don't know where ARS got their information, but component cables are as capable as HDMI in terms of video quality. They work with 720p and up.
Not a chance this was goading
For this suggestion of goading to make any sense, the people doing the goading would have needed to find or create security vulnerabilities on their web sites/servers. Nobody would do that. "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor)
Re: Re: Anti-SOPA lyrics for The Battle Hymn of the Republic
Nina, you just made my sister's day! By the way, you rock.
Anti-SOPA lyrics for The Battle Hymn of the Republic
My sister wrote the following in response to SOPA (sung to the tune of The Battle Hymn of the Republic):
Mine eyes have seen the glory of an internet that’s free
… free in Yemen, and Oaxaca, also free to you and me
Not speaking of who pays for it, but human liberty
The Internet is free!
Lobbyists take sand and pound it
Leave the net the way you found it
We will learn to route around it!
The Internet is free!
You’ve woken up a Golem you will never ever stop
When under-20s get it they will fight you till they drop
What kind of harvest will you get with ignorance the crop?
The Internet is free!
Lying is part of every cop's bag of tricks
Anyone who is surprised when a cop lies just hasn't been around cops very much. Cops' lying is a natural reaction to how much lying they face every day from the people they normally deal with. Which is not to excuse it by any means. In fact, I feel that cops should be held to a much higher standard of behaviour than us 'little people' because of their position of trust and the fact that they have so much power over us. If a cop decides they don't like you, they can - quite simply - destroy your life.
Why the labels will fight to the bitter end
Because they are publicly-traded companies, which means that management is responsible to the shareholder. They cannot and will not make a change that they know will reduce the company's profit, until such time as there is no other option. Some won't do it even then, and those companies will die.
They really don't get it
This ridiculous 'feature' with the cutesy name (I can just imagine the marketing meeting where they dreamed up that one) sends a message to potential (and actual) customers: "We think you're a criminal." They're going to lose a lot more customers than the hobbyists. The only company that can get away with this sort of crap is Apple, and that's only because the same idiots keep buying Apple's stuff and will never be swayed.
The labels will be lucky to get 50%
When this revolution is over, musicians will be - quite rightly - in control. The labels will provide services to musicians, including recording, promotion, tour organization, and so on. Some bands won't use the labels at all (think Radiohead), while others use the labels to do the stuff they aren't interested in doing themselves. Very few will continue to let the labels do everything, but even those artists will still be in control and make more money from their own creativity than the labels. The digital revolution is Pandora's Box, baby. Eventually all musicians will realize all they have to do is tell the labels to take a hike, and the labels will crawl back for any kind of deal they can get. Because the labels no longer control the process. The labels will still be profitable, just not obscenely so.
A thought experiment
Whenever I read this kind of thing, I try to imagine what the world would be like if these bozos got everything they wanted. The only real winners in the resulting Orwellian landscape would be - as usual - lawyers. Every other person would be a lawyer. ::shudders::
Thought experiment
It's illuminating to think about what the world would be like if the RIAA and their pals were granted all their wishes.