Favorite Files

No favorite files added yet

Recent Posts

1. Comment - Gates: Blu-ray DRM is 'Anti-Consumer'

   (Oct 18, 2005 - 12:23 PM)

   I think something important is to realize that there are two forces at work here.
   One is the ever changing technology that we just feel we need. People have survived for centuries just fine without it, but we feel that it is some sort of necessity. In the end, it is the demands of the consumer that will decide the fate of any advance in technology. Speculate all you want. Even Bill can't see the future... he may be right, but even his time machine would need a firmware upgrade to see the true future. Besides that, there is no way that digital media can be governed as long as it is possible to view it! There is always someone out there willing to circumvent any and all "protection" to get what they want. It all comes back to the end consumer. Is it worth it?
   Second, this is not the only industry that changes and requires new formats and obsolescence. Car manufacturers have been doing this type of thing for a long time too. They change the way the vehicles operate and the parts they need. Sure, they claim that it is redesigned to improve your experience as a driver, but really, do you think that wheel bearings and brakes have really made a huge change. The electronics in cars have changed so you can't put a newer engine in an old car, unless you want to put a huge amount of work into it or replace half the car. We end up buying more because you can't get parts for older cars and even then they never last forever. We are slaves to the businesses. They control to a huge degree how much we spend and how often! The point is other markets exhibit the same problems as the technology industry does. Tech items change more rapidly so we notice it more, and unless you're willing to exercise your only real source of control on the industry by not purchasing something that comes out that's flashy and new, you might as well just flip your pockets inside out and zip your mouth shut.
   In reality, if we as a society didn't want it, or we didn't think the advantages outweighed the disadvantages, it would not be there. So maybe we should just sit back once in a while and THINK about what we are really wanting and what we are willing to give up for it. There is always a compromise, we just have to figure out what it's going to be. In the case of vehicles and transportation there is the issue of alternate fuel sources! The benefits will probably be deemed as outweighing the drawbacks in the end. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what WE choose in the end.