I agree in part

Story: The Freeloading Digital EconomyTotal Replies: 8
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skelband

Mar 25, 2011
5:56 PM EDT
One of your points that I do agree with (out of many that I do not) is the idea that a DRM-laden restricted formats are actually less valuable than a traditional format.

Take the example of a book. A paper book can be borrowed, read anywhere by anyone and resold. An e-book in a restricted format, perhaps tied to a particular device or device make can't easily be sold on if at all.

To me, that electronic work has less value than the printed version. I can't recoup any of the costs by reselling, I can't necessarily read it in the way that I want to. So why is it often more expensive and not substantially cheaper? The big con in all this is that in a lot of cases the benefits of an electronic format are totally wiped out by the restrictions placed upon it.
JaseP

Mar 28, 2011
10:02 AM EDT
I agree. DRM'd products seriously weaken product value. My wife bought me a movie for a birthday or X-mas. Unfortunately, she made the mistake of buying it in Blu-Ray format, & we don't have a Blu-Ray player. She lost the receipt, too. It had a "digital copy" on a separate DVD, but would only work on a Windoze machine. So, the discs sit around, waiting for the day I get around to purchasing a Blu-Ray drive.

On top of all this, publishers (movie & music) want to force us to re-purchase stuff we already bought in the newer format. We had tapes, & now there are discs. They want us to believe that if we store a digital copy (for our own use, not to distribute to others), that the very act is equal to piracy. They restrict playback to "authorized playback devices." They also refuse to grant licenses for the restricted keys to developers of free/open source software. In short, they have a hand in creating the motivation to copy. I am not advocating piracy, by any stretch. But, if they had kept the "rights" of fair use the same, I wager there would be a lot less piracy (it wouldn't go away, of course).
jdixon

Mar 28, 2011
11:12 AM EDT
> So, the discs sit around, waiting for the day I get around to purchasing a Blu-Ray drive.

They're getting comparatively reasonable:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151... http://www.walmart.com/ip/VIZIO-VBR120-Blu-ray-Player-with-I...
750

Mar 28, 2011
12:46 PM EDT
if one is to go for a BR-drive i would wait until the burners get cheap enough, having just read capability is borderline pointless as the best part about BR is the 25GB capacity.
JaseP

Mar 28, 2011
1:24 PM EDT
Quoting: They're getting comparatively reasonable:


It's not the money,... I HAVE the money. It's more a question of the right model, form factor, connection interface & my time in terms of set up. As far as the money, it's just that I don't want to spend $150 today on something that'll be $65 next year (not actual figures here, just as a concept). Besides, I'm irked about Blue-Ray in terms of DRM-hell, hate the concept of having to re-buy any media & don't want to feed the MPAA's "habit." Plus, my movies all reside on my server, & I don't like the idea of ripping the movies at high res (I'm slightly nearsighted anyway). I need Blu-Ray like I need a second keister.

Besides, my next toy is likely a Tenq P07 Ubuntu Tablet... & maybe a HD-Homerun digital tuner.
Sander_Marechal

Mar 29, 2011
12:28 AM EDT
@JaseP: Post a classifieds somewhere. I'm sure someone will want to trade you the DVD version of that movie for your blue-ray version.

Like you I'm irked about blue-ray. I'm not buying any BR devices on principle.
Bob_Robertson

Mar 29, 2011
7:28 AM EDT
25GB is sweet, how long do they last?

> I'm not buying any BR devices on principle.

Right there with you. Were I to get one, it would be solely for backup purposes. The supposed gain with BR _content_distribution_ is far outweighed by the DRM overhead.
Sander_Marechal

Mar 29, 2011
9:55 AM EDT
Yup. Also, the supposed improvement in quality is marginal. The quality difference between VHS as DVD was huge. DVD to Blu-ray, not so much. You can hardly tell the difference unless you have a big, expensive full-HD TV.
JaseP

Mar 29, 2011
10:53 AM EDT
Quoting: You can hardly tell the difference unless you have a big, expensive full-HS TV.


And, are standing 3-4 feet from it... The Mrs. was totally unimpressed with the HD version of "Big Buck Bunny."

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