iSights 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Class Action Against Apple & AT&T Over iPhone Moves Forward

    iSights ( profile ), 12 Jul, 2010 @ 12:23pm

    Re: Re: That's a long time...

    In the US you can't take it to Verizon or Sprint, since the iPhone is GSM-based hardware and they run on CDMA. Nor can you really take it to T-Mobile, since they use a different 3G frequency band.

    So where the heck are you SUPPOSED to be able to take it?

  • On the post: Describing How To Create A Software Program Now Puts You At Risk Of Contributory Patent Infringement?

    iSights ( profile ), 08 Jul, 2010 @ 02:25pm

    Paper by one of Shazam's authors

    Follow the links, and you'll find a much more in depth paper on the subject... written by one of Shazam's engineers!

    http://www.ee.columbia.edu/~dpwe/papers/Wang03-shazam.pdf

    Do you think they'll now threaten to sue themselves?

  • On the post: When Recording Everything We See Is Standard, What Happens To Copyright?

    iSights ( profile ), 19 Jun, 2010 @ 12:20am

    "Levine, in mentioning this, queries what happens when he goes to the movies?"

    Nothing. Other than blinding his bionic eye with the movie theater's anti-camera laser system...

  • On the post: The Economist On Why Copyright Needs To Return To Its Roots

    iSights ( profile ), 20 Apr, 2010 @ 01:53pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Net Present Value

    "... copywrong laws..."

    Never argue with cowards. Especially the 17-year-old variety that have to make up cute names for things they don't like nor understand.

  • On the post: The Economist On Why Copyright Needs To Return To Its Roots

    iSights ( profile ), 20 Apr, 2010 @ 01:32pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Net Present Value

    "The question is not whether artists actually do "sit on their laurels," but whether long copyright terms allow them to do so."

    I can build a house, sell it for a profit, and then sit on my "laurels". I can start a business, sell it, and then sit on my "laurels". So what's the problem with my creating a good book, selling a million copies, and then again sitting on my "laurels"?

    I created something. I sold it. To argue that one is fair and the other is not seems a bit disingenuous, at best.

    That said, I do believe copyright terms should be much shorter, on the order of 17 years or so. If you can't monetize a work in that period of time, give someone else a shot at it.

  • On the post: The Economist On Why Copyright Needs To Return To Its Roots

    iSights ( profile ), 20 Apr, 2010 @ 10:53am

    Re: Re: Net Present Value

    "... it lets them rest on their laurels ..."

    This horse is often trottled out of the barn durning these discussions, and to my mind it's simply made of straw.

    Did Edison just create one invention, and then rest on his laurels? Did King or Clancey or Heinlein just write one bestselling novel and call it quits? Did Spielberg just direct one blockbuster?

    Heck, even bands labeled as "one hit wonders" aren't in that category on purpose. Most at least tried to come up with another song or hit in order to build on their earlier success, but simply failed to capture the public's fancy.

    I suspect that if you look at almost any inventor, author, director, or musician, you'll find that the "hit" upon whose larels they're supposedly resting was neither their first attempt, nor their last.

  • On the post: Has the New York Times Run Afoul of the FTC's Endorsement Guides?

    iSights ( profile ), 16 Apr, 2010 @ 01:18am

    Conspiracy

    Then again, perhaps the adulation heaped upon the iPad by the press, papers, magazines, web sites, and bloggers is... justified?

    Naw. Must be a conspiracy. (grin)

  • On the post: The US Postal Service's Business Model Is Outdated. Is It Time To Wind It Down Or Privatize It?

    iSights ( profile ), 16 Mar, 2010 @ 10:36am

    Re: Re: Re: Re:Unions

    Unions once solved major imbalances in worker rights and workplace safety.

    Today, like most organizations, they exist primarily to perpetuate their own power. Rather than working with management to solve problems, they're forced to demand more and more and more. More money, more benefits, more time off, and so on, all to justify their own existence and the dues members pay.

    The auto unions killed Detroit, a clear case of killing the goose that laid the golden eggs.

    How is it that Toyota or Honda can build a profitable plant here in the US making cars with US labor... and we can't?

  • On the post: Amazon Shutting Down Colorado-Based Associates Over Sales Tax Issue

    iSights ( profile ), 09 Mar, 2010 @ 02:06pm

    Re: Re: Re: the trend is headed - but which way

    That impact is negligible.

    Would you rather have one truck on the road making least-distance-travelled optimized deliveries to 50 people, or have those 50 different people all climbing into their SUVs and heading off to 50 different destinations to buy something?

    The later has significantly more impact, wouldn't you agree?

    Sales tax also helps cover the services (roads, sewage, police, fire, etc.) provided to all of those local stores and businesses.

  • On the post: Author Claims $9.99 Is Not A 'Real Price' For Books

    iSights ( profile ), 11 Feb, 2010 @ 06:09pm

    Re: What is a real price

    "...consumers (and competition) decide if $9.99 is a real price or not."

    And actually, "consumers" didn't decide on $9.99 as a price point, Amazon did, just as Apple decided on $0.99 per song as a price point. In fact, according to industry news, Amazon was said subsidizing the $9.99 price to the tune of $5 a copy, as they were supposedly paying the publisher $14.99 a copy.

    Now, Amazon might well decide to eat the $5 (for first run books) if it means gaining ebook market share and if it also encourages people to buy older ebooks (and books) on which they DO make money.

    Oh yeah... and if doing so sells the occasional $300 Kindle.

    If you think Amazon would not decide to lose some money now in order to build up market share, then you're completely forgetting how Amazon became Amazon in the first place.

  • On the post: Author Claims $9.99 Is Not A 'Real Price' For Books

    iSights ( profile ), 11 Feb, 2010 @ 06:03pm

    Re: What is a real price

    "The advent of ebooks makes things hard as printing and distribution are two major cost factors in working out your base line cost..."

    Well... the following amortized price breakdown from Kindle Review (http://ireaderreview.com/2009/05/03/book-cost-analysis-cost-of-physical-book-publishing/) may be instructional here. This is for the average first-run hardcover book:

    Book Retail Price: $27.95.
    Retailer (discount, staffing, rent, etc.) - $12.58. That's 45%.
    Author Royalties - $4.19. Exactly 15%.
    Wholesaler - $2.80. Exactly 10%.
    Pre-production (Publisher) - $3.55. That's 12.7%.
    Printing (Publisher) - $2.83. Translates to 10.125%
    Marketing (Publisher) - $2. That's approximately 7.15%.

    Basically the numbers of interest are the retailer (45%), printing (just 10%), and the wholesaler (10%). So it's fairly easy to see that online books can dump wholesaling and printing costs... but that's just 20%, or $6. Retailer costs can drop, but most retailers (physical or otherwise) still need to make a profit, even selling ebooks.

  • On the post: Billboard Gets Snarky; Not A Believer In CwF + RtB

    iSights ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2010 @ 02:24pm

    Journalist

    I think you're protesting too much about not being a "journalist."

    Wiki: "A journalist collects and disseminates information about current events, people, trends, and issues. His or her work is acknowledged as journalism.
    Reporters are one type of journalist. They create reports as a profession for broadcast or publication in mass media such as newspapers, television, radio, magazines, documentary film, and the Internet."

    Or in other words, if you quack like a duck...

  • On the post: Netflix Exec Claims That Delaying Movie Rentals For A Month Benefits Customers

    iSights ( profile ), 21 Jan, 2010 @ 11:00am

    Re: Re:

    It probably will sell more discs, but I agree that the increase will be minor.

    Keep in mind that the only pool of people affected are Netflix customers, and many of them won't care if the disc lands in their queue this month or next month. When it ships, it ships.

  • On the post: Netflix Exec Claims That Delaying Movie Rentals For A Month Benefits Customers

    iSights ( profile ), 21 Jan, 2010 @ 10:53am

    Re: Netflix Customer

    I have. If I could put a screenshot clip here I'd show you, but nearly every movie in my list has "long wait" or "extremely long wait" next to it. And some are titles that appeared in late November.

    My response? I've cut back my rentals, going from what was once a seven-disc queue to three. I've also started using Redbox a lot more.

    Netflix's job (for the moment) is to ship discs. If they can't or won't stock enough of them to meet demand in a reasonable time frame, then people will find someone who can.

  • On the post: In A World Of Bottom Up Technology, Should IT Support Your iPhone?

    iSights ( profile ), 20 Jan, 2010 @ 08:50pm

    They should...

    "These days, many technologies used in the office are coming from "the bottom up," meaning that they're personal technologies ... that individuals are using/buying on their own first..."

    These days? You're showing your age Mike. (Or lack thereof.)

    Back in the day, people snuck Apple IIs into the office, just so they could run VisiCalc. Then they started bugging the mainframe staff for data to plug into their spreadsheets and, of course, the IT folk resisted doing the extra work.

    "Besides," they said. "Those personal computer things are just toys."

    Fast forward a few decades, and it would appear that they're still doing the same type of song and dance. All while people who WANT to be more productive spend their own time and money ushering in the future of communications and connectivity.

  • On the post: Why The Record Labels Are Still Confused: The Difference Between Transformative And Incremental Change

    iSights ( profile ), 21 Dec, 2009 @ 02:28pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re:

    "The Music industry told us that the price would go down after the technology was paid for. "

    CDs were $30 or more on introduction. Ten years ago it averaged $15-18 a disk. Now WalMart, Target, Amazon, and even my local grocery store sell most of them at $12-15. Or less. There are also the $10 and $5 and even $2 discount bins...

    So prices have in fact decreased over the last twenty years. And they've dropped when the price of nearly everything else has INCREASED due to inflation. (Making a $12 disc about $5 in 1980's dollars.)

    The facts don't back up your rationalization. Prices have dropped. Dramatically.

  • On the post: Microsoft DRM Locks You Out Of Your Own Documents

    iSights ( profile ), 14 Dec, 2009 @ 10:23am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: categorically discounting drm is stupid

    Ditto. In most cases DRM is supposed to prevent what I call "casual copies."

    Back in the day, people copied movies on VHS tapes and gave them away. Then the industry implemented MacroVision. Yes, you could buy a gimmick that let you still copy protected tapes... but the vast majority of people didn't, unauthorized copies dropped, and sales rose.

    Same with door looks. Determined thieves will pick them, break them, or bypass them. But neighbors and others will be delivered from temptation.

  • On the post: Should We Add Bandwidth Hogs To The Myth List With That Impending Exaflood?

    iSights ( profile ), 04 Dec, 2009 @ 01:55pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re:

    "... they need to go ahead and build out the infrastructure more instead of just charging us more for using it."

    If they build out the infrastructure more they WILL charge you more to use it.

    Building infrastructure requires people, materials, time, and money. All of which is paid for by the customer.

  • On the post: Should We Add Bandwidth Hogs To The Myth List With That Impending Exaflood?

    iSights ( profile ), 04 Dec, 2009 @ 01:51pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    "... or should you perhaps build out a little more pipe?"

    Easy to say, hard to do, and expensive at that. And those costs would be passed on to you.

    Besides, EVERYONE does this. Electricity, phone, water, planes, trains, buses, highways, grocery stores... EVERYONE models use and provisions enough to handle baseline load plus the average peak plus a safety factor.

    You can't build any system on the off chance that everyone (or even the vast majority of people) will flip on all of the lights, make a call, and turn on all of the faucets all at the same time. The costs would be prohibitive.

  • On the post: That Mythical 'Information Wants To Be Free' Crowd

    iSights ( profile ), 01 Dec, 2009 @ 02:42pm

    Re: Re: Re: Content is free

    If you consider 50-cent and Miley Cyrus to be art, we should all be horrified.

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