Recent Comments:
Invisible nanotubes could support human weight {Engadget}
Jul 21st 2008 6:32PM I was on the same page as you. But mine was "boobie-traps".
OCZ's Neural Impulse Actuator gets reviewed, mice everywhere safe for now {Engadget}
Jul 21st 2008 6:23PM Just tell me when I can get a port in the back of my neck. Thanks.
How to reveal blocked caller ID info: a video guide to risky behavior {Engadget}
Jul 21st 2008 10:37AM I'm kinda torn about this.
On one hand, part of me wants to do it cause private calls are annoying (then others with private numbers forget to unblock their number). But on the other hand, if all numbers are unblocked ... it'll cause me to answer the phone more often, even when I don't know a number.
Ehhh, I'll probably do it and just not answer numbers I don't know.
I wonder how long it'll take before the services prevent it from being used in such a manner.
*shrugs*
Cat Faucet solves elusive cat drinking from sink issue, we sigh in relief {Engadget}
Jul 14th 2008 8:48AM lmfao @ a cat chasing after that ... or learning the hard way where to stand to get cold water.
iPhone 3G review {Engadget}
Jul 11th 2008 10:37AM Aside from everyone's relatively quibble-ish replies ... I thought this was an excellently written objective review, in tone, tempo, neutrality, etc.
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Apple MacBook Pro case design images looking solid {Engadget}
Jul 10th 2008 7:21AM I'm not sure if I'm gonna like tapering on the MBP. I prefer clean lines, and find curve shapes like the clamshell ibook, to be a bit kiddy-ish.
Still it'll be interesting to see what they come up with. Love it or hate it, I think it'll be nice regardless.
Anti-terrorist drill reveals Segway attack plan, legions of embarrassed patrolmen {Engadget}
Jul 4th 2008 10:11PM I say the fourth would've been controversial fun.
Modular recorder concept gets down with homegrown sounds {Engadget}
Jul 4th 2008 10:03PM I expected to see "coming soon to the wii" somewhere in the post, or "rockband controller." But the "Fisher-Price" satiated. Thanks.
Sony talks future of OLED, Blu-ray's chances against DVD {Engadget}
Jul 3rd 2008 6:16PM A few months ago, or however long it was that the format war ended ... I wrote on engadget about the transition process ... and said that Blu-ray would be the last optical media (unless crystals are employed).
The problem is, many people invested a lot of money into DVDs ... from the players to the titles. They invested significantly more in the purchasing of DVD titles than they did in VHS titles, when VHS was so easily rented and copied. Think about it ... is your DVD collection larger than the number of actual (non-copied) titles you had on VHS? -- These people aren't the average engadget reader that wants to have the latest and greatest. Engadget has a hell of a lot of readers, but when pitted against the world ... it's just a drop in the bucket. -- Most of the world doesn't care about such things. I'd even venture to say audaciously that more than 90% of the world doesn't care.
We are an extreme minority.
The average IQ is "not" over a hundred. Those who are, fail to realize that at times (that people are not them, and do not think like them ... they are not independant thinkers, they are social thinkers). -- The rest, only care if "everyone" seems to be getting it ... then they don't want to be left out. They wanted an iPod because everyone seemed to be getting it ... and as such, the expectation is attached to the label / brand. -- iPhone, iPod touch ... people will get it because, they knew what happened before. Thus, they don't want to be left out this time or too slow to adopt it. -- They picked up DVDs, not particularly for the quality which was leagues beyond VHS ... but because of popularity, but most importantly ... the size. The moment there was a format war with two camps, it was obvious that neither format alone would gain enough popularity ... since even among the geeks only 50% liked either (in concept @ 50). Neither were revolutionary. With DVDs, the physical shape is what made it revolutionary, only geeks thought it was the quality. For example, how many people actually recorded on their video cassettes at the highest quality setting, knowing that they could fit four movies onto each video cassette if they forgo a little quality?
Would they have bought more video cassettes? Imagine you have the choice to fit only one track on an audiocassette, versus multiple tracks. Something expensive becomes cost effective only if it increases their social appearance or status ... the white headphones were a status symbol, they didn't buy the product ... they were buying the symbol, a symbol which also promoted convenience. -- Quality was and never will be important to the average consumer. Especially not in the face of "cost", and convenience.
American companies understand that, which is why they are okay with selling "mediocre" products. Why would they on a long-term put the resources into something which only a small percentage of their buyers would care about? I think it would've been a smarter move to create media which is not only smaller, but higher in quality. -- Not "too" small though, because then the buyer's fears of literally losing their investment would become a deterrent. However, the problem with such an approach would've been ... there would have only been one camp to the next DVD tech ... and as such, it would've been adopted socially. The war killed both formats. One's just dying slower.
But, smaller and better would've appealed to the consumers more.
Yet, here was HD-DVD, and Blu-ray ... essentially the same shape and size as the consumer's previous investment. Which after spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars on that prior investment ... came along and said, "what you spent your hard earned money on is now obsolete." If people bought as many video cassette titles as they did DVDs, the social burn would've been obvious in that transition also. However, in that case they actually wanted "smaller". Just like the LCDs etc are selling, not because of quality ... but because of size and shape. Hence why, Best Buy can sell a hell of a lot of mediocre panels ... the consumers never were concerned with quality. So ... where's the incentive to a society which never cared about quality to begin with? Where's the incentive to essentially throw away their previous investment?
Physical media is dying.
In my previous comment on the subject I said, it would be a smarter investment to purchase a raid solution and archive that soon to be antiquated DVD collection. Since right now the only reason Blu-ray is even a consideration is because bandwidth is an issue. However, something like Apple TV ... where they can get a similar high quality at almost the same price ... and conveniently (read "lazily") to boot ... downloads will replace the purchasing of physical media. Downloads will replace physical media ... long before Blu-ray can overcome the popularity of DVD. Long before Sony or someone else can create an even better physical media with wide acceptence. -- That does not mean there will be "no" physical media, yeah they'll still be made ... but downloads will replace such purchases as the "norm".
As such, as far as I'm concerned ... whomever has a blu-ray collection, it's already obsolete. People just have a hard time realizing it, and refuse to let go. Kinda like how the HD-DVD camp didn't want to let go of their investment. How do you think the rest of the world feels about having to let go of their DVD investment?
It's not gonna happen. Surely not for a media which looks almost the same, but the hardware etc. costs significantly more. Nah, they'd sooner download, and unless the internet self-destructs, or suddenly becomes exclusive ... then that's a promise. The longevity of these companies who's revenue is largely backed by such sales ... is in their ability to remove the issue of bandwidth ... as well as ... their ability to make such things become significantly easier to use by the technology retarded consumers. -- I'd put money into the R&D department of my company for such an endeavor long before I would've done so with the Blu-ray fad. It was a sysiphean task, which the older generation attached "physical" media didn't want to give up or possibly even realize ... just the same as ... there will always be people who like tactile keyboards on their phones, but even a company like Nokia can realize the error in their inability to let go. -- Why do you think Sony's doing the Hancock experiment? So they can back the Blu-ray buyers, or see how feasible it is to abandon physical media? -- Granted, it's possible that with it being streamed at a price ... they are using that to garner interest in Blu-ray purchases. But really, if successful ... that avenue will become more realistic, I see them more sooner weighing the exploitability of that against the manufacturing costs of physical media.
To the non-believers ... Blu-ray "IS" another SACD concept ... you just didn't realize that from the beginning. The fact that there were two divided camps on the matter proved that it was more of the same. Non-revolutionary. Thus, wouldn't have changed much. It is, and always was SACD.
Doesn't even matter if I'm wrong. Since regardless of the media which comes out in the long-run ... regardless of what becomes the standard method of delivery. My collection on my 2tb drive raid arrays, will be easilly transferrable to whatever these company's want to spit out. So what everyone invests in, argues about, thinks is better or worse, whatever wins or loses ... makes no difference to me. I'm just saying ... do you really want to keep jumping through the hoops? When will you get a clue?
The companies sure have.
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Sony pulls 2.40 firmware update after reports of bricked PS3s {Engadget}
Jul 2nd 2008 5:42PM While I don't know who or what's at fault ... I think it's safe to say that those who'd say their system was bricked, are psuedo geeks. Aka the ones that don't put more effort into things than clicking on stuff ... or that solve problems by rebooting (sweeping under the rug) ... versus the ones spend hours under the hood before even fathoming rebooting a system, the, "where there's a will, there's a way" crowd, with killer uptimes.
Shit, I don't remember the last time I rebooted my computer and I'm on Vista.
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