Re: For you poor saps that just bought Mass Effect for the PC

Leo wrote:
<snip>
In short - the Old Guard should have to protect themselves by
coming up w/something that consumers want and will pay for. The wants
of consumers change over time, however! This forces the Old Guard to
innovate or die, and those few that do manage to innovate enrich us
all w/the results of that innovation. If we don't adopt a system such
as this, then countries that *do* will have an unbeatable edge over us
that will grow ever greater over time, as they get more and more of
the innovations that we would have had, had we not gutted the
incentive through which they came about. The current state of IP law
is going to hurt us and hurt us bad if we don't wise up.

Great post Leo. I just looked up netflix here in Aus (called quickflix.com.au, also another mob WebFlicks) & they seem to only distribute via the post, albeit with a much more liberal system (no time limits, late fees, return envelope included, just one monthly fee, etc). Still, it's half-arsed & unnecessary to stick to the old medium for a lot of ppl who now have the b/width to d/l their own. Foxtel (our largest pay tv mob) is *** & Blockbuster has nothing to offer online as yet; Bigpond is just DVD postal rentals as well or movies a year or more older for $6+ lol! They just aren't getting it!

The actual irony is that real movie fans (like myself) d/l HD divx rips of movies & get a better service from the community than an actual business lol. And THEN we buy the DVD when it's out anyway. Or go see a movie or two a month in Gold Class which costs over $100 for 3 ppl & then there's the food on top!

So, the movies we really want to keep & watch again we buy anyway. All the others are either deleted after viewing or burnt off to be forgotten, perhaps benefiting family members, mates & work colleagues more than oneself most times. Hell, I can go down to Videobusters & hire a brand new movie for just $2. But with the price of fuel & my time (plus the 2nd painful trip to return) who wants to put up with that *** if there's an alternative? They could charge me $3 or $4 online & I'd happily pay it to get it when & how I want it, at *my* convenience.

Given there IS an easy & free alternative, I'd feel like a complete patsy if I continued to pander to their outdated systems. Mind you, I'm not a big movie buff i.e. I don't watch THAT many really - more of a tv series viewer. I noticed some shows have started to provide online episodes for a couple bucks, which is ok, but they're few & far between. I'd really like to do the 'right' thing, but the cartels sure aren't making it easy.

Anyone read the story in Rolling Stone how the big 3 or 4 music were originally offered a sweet deal from Apple to integrate with i-Tunes (on a per download/song profit-share model) & knocked it back? Bet they feel like farking idiot dunces now! <G>

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Nostromo
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