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Windows 8 - Deeper Impressions


JorgeA

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Can you tell that Microsoft is busy trying to put out brushfires right and left from all these little content-free stories developed around little nuggets of leaked information?

Microsoft says it is listening to negative feedback about Xbox One DRM ( NeoWin 2013-05-30 )

Sure you are! The problem is that it goes in one ear and right out the other. Same for Windows 8. :yes:

The interesting thing is that there is a Softie in the comments trying hard to convince folks how important DRM is for them. And you want to know what the core of the argument is that the Softie uses? It goes like this ( paraphrased ): 'Well since your games are installed to the HDD, DRM is vital because of how easy it would be to copy them'. :o ... Epiphany! ... Now we know why Microsoft made this drastic change of not playing games from the disc instead choosing to install them first. It wasn't to gain some performance edge after all. It was to open the door to unlimited DRM, including phoning home. Thank you anonymous Softie for inadvertantly spilling the beans.

Microsoft reveals more on its 'liquid black' design for Xbox One ( NeoWin 2013-05-30 )

Another fluff piece bordering on the ridiculous ...

In a new Xbox Wire blog post, along with a new YouTube video, Xbox design team members revealed that the color of the main Xbox One console, along with the Kinect sensor and the controller, is called "liquid black" which it says is the "blackest black creatable" for a molded resin. Microsoft states:
The console and Kinect sensor are liquid black so they melt into the background when being used, allowing the content on your TV to dominate the living room. The user interface is overlaid on the same shade of deep black so that the content tiles on the dashboard are more vivid and easier to navigate and interact with "dozens and dozens”.

The controller's liquid black color also allows the colored A, B, X and Y buttons to look like they are 'floating' on top of the device, according to Microsoft.

Skipping the absurdity of "matching" blacks and making it blend in to the background ( What? The little "X" logo won't be visible? ), did you catch the great disconnect: "allows the colored A, B, X and Y buttons to look like they are 'floating' on top of the device"? That's the NeoWin author suggesting a non-flat 3D GUI? Wait, isn't that kinda old now? Hypocrites!

Xbox One controllers designed to last a decade, or more ( NeoWin 2013-05-30 )

And another fluff piece where Microsoft talks up some little factoid, this time implying some super-construction of the game controller. Photos of testing labs. Blah, blah. One sharp commenter asks a very good question ...

So, is that a ten year warranty then?

... which cuts right to the chase indeed. :thumbup If you think about it, Microsoft missed an opportunity here. This alleged uber-controller should be released standalone as a peripheral for any console or other use. Furthermore, a 10-year warranty would be a marvelous idea. First of all they get to prove they are not lying. Secondly it is unarguably a pro-consumer move. But most importantly it could start a race for the top for both manufacturing quality and warranty policy, something the industry needs as we race to the bottom in practically all categories. That last part would also be very pro-consumer. So the rhetorical question of the day is, will Microsoft do any of these pro-consumer things? :no:

Microsoft is Investing a Billion Dollars in Xbox One Games ( Tom's Hardware 2013-05-30 )

Not really a lot of money believe it or not. If they build and/or sell 100 million consoles, that will equal spending a mere $10 per system, a drop in the bucket. Now here is something interesting. They say they are delivering 15 exclusive titles. Want to know what that calculation works out to be?

1,000,000,000 dollars divided by 15 game titles = $ 66,666,666.666666666666666666666667

:w00t:

How about that? The number of the beast indeed. I think this commenter at the article nails it though ...

You're spending 1 billion dollars to monopolize a market and act as a gate keeper preventing people from playing new games unless they give money to you. It's also encouraging developers to avoid multiple system releases. Well it benefits you, and it benefits the developer... I'm just not seeing how this is anything to boast about to everyone else.

EDIT: typo

Edited by CharlotteTheHarlot
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Steven Sinofsky Looks Back at Microsoft and Ahead to More Disruption ( AllThingsD 2013-05-30 )

Former Windows head Steven Sinofsky talks about life after Microsoft ( NeoWin 2013-05-30 )

Former Microsoft Windows chief: I was right to kill the Start button. And to leave halfway through the Win 8 rollout ( UK Register 2013-05-30 )

He's back! ( NOTE: I am copying the quotes exactly as they appear, but be warned that as is often the case in what passes for "Journalism" these days, the actual quote marks are the only parts I would trust as verbatim quotes. Much of the other text looks like quotation but may or not be the author paraphrasing. If I were Publisher or Editor these journalists' heads would roll like it was the French Revolution. )

On leaving Microsoft:

It’s always hard to decide when to change things up.

“You have to pick a time, so I picked a time.”

He's lying. I'm sorry, but he is. I figured with the passage of time that Sinofsky might try this. Steven left the building on a Monday. No-one leaves on a Monday unless he suddenly quit unexpectedly without notice or was fired. Additionally, this was the week before ( not of ) the Thanksgiving holiday. I noted at the time that a planned exit would have been targeted over the holiday to dodge the news cycle and protect the MSFT share price. Furthermore, no-one in his position leaves without notice ( especially on a Monday, 10 days before Thanksgiving ). People in his position have transition periods with a healthy overlap. What happened? There was most likely a heated discussion with ultimatims delivered back and forth and either Sinofsky quit on the spot or was fired and escorted out. Trying to describe this any other way is a big fat deception.

As for sales, it’s hard for me to look at selling 100 million of something and not be happy.

If by "sold" he means shipped into the captive OEM back-channel monopoly, then it makes sense. This is the way Tony Soprano sells garbage collection services.

The nature of the computer is undergoing a transformation. Form factors of PC is one effect of that but more is going on under the hood. Machines seem off but can be connecting intermittently. That’s a very different paradigm, too. Or the way computers are evolving to be a sealed-case kind of design vs. something that people tinker with and expand over time.

9:31 am: To reach the next billion, you have to seal things up more. I remember when I was 16 and I was looking at cars. My father asked them to open up the hood.

Why are we opening the hood, Sinofsky asked.

Owning a car means fixing a car, his dad told him.

“I am not in the shop class, Dad,” he said “That’s other people.”

Same thing is now going in PCs.

I think Sinofsky just tipped us off to something. :yes: And that is how Microsoft wants to help get dumb computers into the hands of the Sheeple.

Consider that Microsoft admits to helping OEMs with their design ideas. Now understand that the "BlackBox" design ( loosely prototyped under Vista with DRM added to the OS ) is the golden goose for Big Hollywood and Big Computer including Microsoft. Your consumer electronics DVD players are "BlackBox" gadgets, albeit somewhat passive without phone-home ability. A veritable stew of chips including DRM designed to protect the disc media from the owner, rather than the owner from the disc media. Needless to say the owner of the device cannot modify these circuits ( even by law now! ) even though they paid for the thing. Hardware protected path, software protected path. The whole entire path protected. Get the picture now?

This is how "owners" of computers instead become "users" of computers. This is how free people become sheeple. This is how the chain of control from Hollywood right down to the user gets established. Microsoft is already very busy on our end planting DRM and removing customization and personalization, even floating the Kinect concept of eyes and ears on you the whole time ( see Microsoft Patent #20120278904 ). The BlackBox therefore is the ultimate key to control, but since they cannot easily turn our PC's into hardware BlackBoxes ( not for the lack of trying, enabling protected paths was a lunge in this direction ), instead Microsoft will simply take the "P" out of "PC". The ultimate goal is the destruction of the Personal Computer.

10:00 am: Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 have this flat look; iOS sounds like they are moving in that direction. What are your thoughts on flat vs. the other (known as skeumorphic design)?

Sinofsky: I don’t know more or less than what I read about what Apple is doing. It was exciting to be part of a project that changes the design paradigm. He gives a shout-out to Julie Larson-Green and others who led that effort within Microsoft.

“If people follow it can be even better.”

Well that was a big load of nothing. Simple and interesting question ducked like a politician being questioned about a sex scandal.

Sinofsky is probably gonna regret the photos they took. None are flattering and most are ready-made for Photoshop ( not the one below ). Also, note the crappy journalism throughout. You will be very hard-pressed to figure out what were actual quotes unless you watch the video and transcribe it for yourself. Journalism indeed! More like a Journalism fail that matches the legendary Sinofsky fail.

6AHoZcG.jpg

EDIT: added link mentioned by Jaclaz, fixed typo(s)

Edited by CharlotteTheHarlot
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So they are bringing back the Start button but that will open the Start Screen/Metro and not the Start menu we all know. Epic fail there from Microsoft. Is it so hard to provide both an option for a start menu and start screen Microsoft?

Where there's no will, there's no way...

--JorgeA

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Well well, we may finally find out what they've been smoking up there in Redmond: :lol:

The good thing about a good article is that a sentence is often clearly explained by the following one :thumbup :

When asked what would happen if the feds decided to pay him a menacing call, he told the Seattle Times: "He said, 'Darth, if you strike me down I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.'"

Oddly, Shively claims to have smoked pot only for the last 18 months.

It seems to me however that a comma is missing in here:

Shively claims to have smoked pot only for the last 18 months.

this sounds better to me ;) :

Shively claims to have smoked pot only, for the last 18 months.

jaclaz

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It seems to me however that a comma is missing in here:

Shively claims to have smoked pot only for the last 18 months.

this sounds better to me ;) :

Shively claims to have smoked pot only, for the last 18 months.

:lol:

If he had been doing, umm, "test marketing" of his business concept over at MSFT, that would help to explain matters over there...

--JorgeA

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More from CNET:

Dear Microsoft: Add folders to the Windows 8 Start screen

According to the article, the MSFT gods are thinking of allowing customers to sort their tiles on the Metro screen by frequency of use. That would be a small step in the direction of improved usability. Allowing users to set up app folders, as the writer suggests, would be another step.

--JorgeA

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OK, I'll try this concept one more time and see if it sticks:

Metro Derailed

Microsoft removes mobile UI from desktop PCs; 'We were looking in the wrong direction'

--JorgeA

Edited by JorgeA
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Integrating Bing web search with local search in Windows 8.1 raises privacy concerns, as a commenter to the linked article points out:

More importantly, this could be a huge privacy issue. Picture this -- a tax accountant needs to search his local hard drive for tax payer records. He does a search for their social security number. That social security number is now being fed to bing.

Lovely. :rolleyes:

--JorgeA

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More details about Windows 8.1 coming out:

Windows 8.1 unveiled: Lots of touchscreen tweaks; Desktop users will be dissatisfied

Your Start screen tiles will be automatically synced to any other Windows 8.1 devices, too.
[emphasis added]

Hmm, what if I prefer having distinct start screen tiles for each different device according to the device's purpose? Would I be able to do that, or has Microsoft, in Their infinite wisdom, decided that I'm better off with a uniform start screen arrangement across all my devices?

The Search charm is being significantly overhauled. Instead of defaulting to a text box that searches your installed apps, Bing will now return an “aggregated view of many content sources,” including your apps, files, the web, and your SkyDrive. As you can see above (click to zoom in), the resultant view is quite rich in detail — though it might be a bit tiring to sift through so much data when you’re just trying to open Photoshop.

This actually sounds less convenient and useful than simple local search. Instead of your eye quickly locating the item you need from a couple of possible local search results, thanks to the addition of Web search now you'll have to pick it out from a mass of results. Again, I have yet to find out whether you can turn off Web search when you do a search in Metro.

On large displays, you can have up to four Metro apps running side-by-side — and if you have multiple monitors, Metro apps and the Start screen are no longer locked to just one monitor.

That seems to address a question I had a few posts upthread, about the number of Metro apps you can show on your monitor at the same time. Four is better than three or two... although it's still not six or twelve, as we can do (and sometimes actually need to) in the Desktop. This will be a festering sore an ongoing limitation for Metro-style computing when it comes to business or other serious PC use.

--JorgeA

Edited by JorgeA
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I bet you have Charlotte. lol

I'm thinking about the "Harrow and Wealdstone" crash in 1952.

3 locos smashed in fog.

Can't help thinking Microsoft couldn't see the signals for the Metro Fog

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Samsung taps Intel to power the Galaxy Tab 3 ( TechSpot 2013-05-31 )

Samsung Reportedly Picks Intel Chip for Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 ( Maximum PC 2013-05-31 )

Report: Samsung Chooses Intel for Next Android Tablets ( Tom's Hardware 2013-06-02 )

According to the report, the Korean electronics behemoth has chosen Intel’s Clover Trail+ SoC for at least one variant of the Galaxy Tab 3 10.1.

The Atom Z2580, part of the recently announced Clover Trail+ lineup, is the microprocessor that Samsung has slated for the upcoming Galaxy Tab 3 10.1, an anonymous source told Reuters. Samsung’s marquee tablet will run Android 4.2.2 out of the box and feature a 1280 x 800 resolution display.

According to the report, both benchmarking sites revealed that the tablet will have a 1280 x 800 resolution, and an Intel SoC running in the 800 MHz to 1.6 GHz range, which is within the specs of Intel's Atom Z2560 chip. This SoC, along with the Z2580 and Z2520, is optimized for Android, and Intel has developed new firmware, drivers and middleware to enhance Android power management and security.

gw5ZOdz.jpgkuM3lgg.png

( image sources: left and right )

There's that Karma again. Microsoft runs whole hog at ARM out of pure jealousy and envy of Apple and Google ( and at the expense of their angry x86 user base ). And so far they have gotten nowhere except for one dramatic achievement - the astonishing mouth-frothing anger of all those users they kicked in the nuts. Now here is Intel making, for now anyway, a small but possibly important move into SOC ( isn't SoaC more logical? ) ... and ... wait for it ... Android. :whistle: Oops! Wintel no more? Too soon to tell but just in case I shall dub thee Intellidroid :lol:

We'll have to keep an eye out for other possible signs of trouble here ... oh look ... here's another ...

Acer Haswell AIO Android PC Spotted; Reveal Next Week ( Tom's Hardware 2013-06-01 )

According to the report, the Acer DA220HQL AIO PC will be priced just around $400 at most retailers. CompSource is listing the Android computer as well, but for $391 USD. This listing shares a few more details such as 8 GB of internal storage, Android 4.0 at the very least, 6 MB of L3 cache and 1 GB of DDR3 SDRAM. The display will be 21.5 inches, the listing reveals.

Unfortunately for Microsoft, the disappointing reception of Windows 8 has pushed ODMs to seek out new life in alternative platforms, and the Android/Intel combo will reportedly become an increasing trend during the second half of 2013. Android is a highly attractive platform because it is license free, and already comes packed with a library of apps, games, movies, TV shows, music and more through Google Play.

Last month former CEO Paul Otellini hinted to the wave of Android devices that are on the way, reporting that notebook prices should soon reach $200. Most of these will be based on Google's Android platform and Intel's Atom mobile processor, not Windows 8 or ARM-based chips.

16vVJ2i.jpg

( image source )

Oh my! :unsure: As you Sow so shall you Reap. :yes: You really gotta wonder why this possibility of Intel hurting Microsoft never seems to come up in these discussions. It sure looks to me that Microsoft has taken them for granted ever since the IBM PC was released. You could even argue that they have been somewhat disrespectful to Intel, often blaming the chips for not being advanced enough or fast enough or smart enough especially during the 286 era, then again in the Pentium I and really almost every chip since. Looking back, I happen to think that Microsoft was mostly at fault, releasing operating systems 3 years ahead of the appropriate processors consistently until now - when for the first time the released OS doesn't tax the CPU at all. Keep in mind that Microsoft has engineering samples of all the chips and develops Windows using these knowing full well that such technology won't be mainstream for several years, yet still they release the OS to the masses who then get to experience Windows in slow motion.

For their part I can't recall Intel calling out Microsoft for making many of their processors appear slow to the end-user customers, and really they should. I won't forgive them for crappy Celerons which are purposefully neutered, but many other chips have been bogged down by Windows. But that's their business I guess, I mean, play Microsoft's stooge at your own peril, with the result that Microsoft rakes in boatloads of dough while Intel catches the blame. Perhaps that will be coming to an end now?

It is not hard to imagine real damage done to Microsoft and their Windows empire by these tablet and AIO form factors ( and future Desktops? ). Remember, it is the fickle consumer that buys this stuff, not us. And it could even get much worse because all Intel really has to do to turn the screws into Microsoft is write it's own x86 operating system and release it for free or low cost. This would preserve their x86 CPU and chipset business which Microsoft seems uninterested in. If anyone has the moral right to the instruction set it is them. They just need to cleanroom clone the Windows API's to exactness and Steve Ballmer will need ant-depressants and a suicide watch. I wouldn't be surprised if they already have something that just needs tweaking. The GUI would require some serious attention naturally, but I think this is one possible alternative to the arrogant, predatory, and monopolistic traits that define Microsoft.

Hmmm. Just thought of one other thing! How are they gonna count these AIO units in marketshare statistics? Certainly they are NOT mobile devices. They will have to go into the desktop totals. There seems to be some reasonable chance that Microsoft's "desktop" monopoly will begin to fall in total. Things that make you go hmmm.

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Windows 8 market share up slightly in May; Windows 7 gains ground ( NeoWin 2013-06-01 )

KP9LAqD.jpg... 2013-05-01

M19JkMa.jpg... 2013-06-01

After 7 months the abomination called Windows 8 has clawed its way to 4.27% marketshare, almost as high as Vista's 4.51% :lol: And if by "clawed" you mean forced itself into the user space by being pre-installed on new computers almost exclusively for 7 months and being pushed into enterprise through backroom upgrade and other licensing scenarios for about 10 months and by entering the standalone retail markets at fire sale prices of $39 or even less for at least 4 months! Add to that the relentless FUD attacking Windows XP as a pending y2k-like apocalypse and the ceaseless warnings to update or die and still the whole rigged thing still shows Windows 8 sitting at 4.27% marketshare.

Of course this is for "desktop" operating systems only, as the 'Tards will quickly point out, which I guess means they are doing well in mobile? I think not. :no: And I can turn right around and point out something right back at them. How about the fact that many Windows XP machines are not talking to the internet and showing up in Net Applications statistics because they are too busy getting work done on offline systems, embedded in kiosks, banking and other high security setups where they cannot be easily counted. Contrast that with the consumption based Windows 8 with its "cloudy" innards, an operating system that is the polar opposite and leans more towards the "always connected" paradigm than anything before it. So the take-away to this article should be the embarrassment they have on their hands. ( BTW: see this post for links to all the previous charts. )

Net Applications: IE10 browser share up to 9.26 percent ( NeoWin 2013-06-01 )

Internet Explorer 10, Microsoft's latest addition to its web browser family, is making slow but steady progress among PC users. New data from Net Applications shows that in May, IE10 was used by 9.26 of all PC browser users, up from 6.02 percent in April. IE10 is only available for Windows 7 and Windows 8 users.

They really should rephrase that to "is making slow but steady progress among PC users on supported operating systems". If they had any scruples they wouldn't even bother with stories about MSIE marketshare. This thing is one of Microsoft's most blatant examples of planned obsolescence, something completely indisputable and shameworthy. A real software company would compartmentalize the browser software components rather than integrate them amongst the OS system files. In other words, it should be usable in a single folder structure and very light on the registry. Ideally it should be simple and portable. But not Microsoft who are allegedly experts on writing software. They found a way to make almost each version die along with the current operating system. Consequently these Internet Explorer usage charts are ridiculous. It is not software that is being "adopted" by anyone, it is hardly even software at all. It is only showing up in the places it is allowed to show up, rarely by choice, and as a quasi-proxy for installed operating systems more than anything else. To me, this kind of statistic is the ultimate example of meaninglessness, a true proxy for idiocracy.

Windows 8 usage on Steam climbs to 12.72 percent in May ( NeoWin 2013-06-01 )

The hardware survey numbers for May 2013 shows that Windows 8 increased its share on Steam by just more than a full percentage point.

Not this stuff again! NeoWin MetroTards are really reaching with this one. They are also demonstrating some rather ~ahem~ iodiocracy with that phrasing: "increased its share on Steam". It may sound like a nitpick but IMHO it demonstrates a fundamental lack of knowledge about just exactly what an operating system is and does. Windows 8 is NOT on Steam. Steam is on Windows, among other things. It proves to me that MetroTards cannot distinguish between software and an operating system which leads to their huge disconnect about Microsoft holding and exploiting a monopoly over computers they did not manufacture, and the bogus comparisons to Apple and Android as competitors in the same space.

What they obviously also don't realize is that those people that use Steam are using a desktop program, not a Metro app to use Steam in the first place. The choice of Windows 8 for Steam is not a choice at all, it is completely irrelevant to this subject. This alleged data point, which they ( NeoWin ) have been promoting for months is apples to oranges, means nothing and illustrates the depths to which they are willing to sink to rationalize their membership in the MicroZealot and MetroTard cults. Finally, talk about lowered expectations: "by just more than a full percentage point"! They have been conditioned from so many months of fractional percentage point movement ( which in itself begs disbelief in the ability to measure at this granularity ) that this "news" is truly cathartic. You almost gotta feel sorry for them. Almost.

Games still dominate latest top 10 paid Windows 8 app listings ( NeoWin 2013-06-01 )

Today, the Windows 8 paid app sales list still show games in eight of the top 10 positions.

[...]

The full top 10 list of paid Windows 8 apps is as follows:

1. Temple Run: Brave ($4.99)

2. Angry Birds Star Wars ($4.99)

3. 4 Elements II Special Edition ($2.99)

4. Game Dev Tycoon ($7.99)

5. Fruit Ninja ($1.99)

6. Plex ($2.99)

7. Bejeweled Live ($4.99)

8. The Harvest ($6.99)

9. Windows 8 Video Player Pro HD ($2.49)

10. Angry Birds Space ($4.99)

These last two stories really belong together as they paint the picture of a consumption targeted operating system. We don't call it Playskool for nothing. This isn't to slag any of those particular games or even Steam, I swear! Let me just point out what you don't see and won't see in these lists, ever ... Chess ... and ... Mensa software. :whistle:

Seriously. I'm coming at this from disputing the bogus notion that Windows 8 is anything but a version of Xbox dashboard mixed with MCE, two consumption based entertainment products. It was painted however by Sinofsky and his gang of Windows Destroyers as an evolution, a sea-change "advancement" of Windows all the while they criticized us for "hating change". Yeah, no. :no: Unless they meant we should change from real users to "consumptors" that line of attack was and is off-base, insulting and unforgivable. Am I enjoying being proven correct over and over? You bet I am. :yes:

EDIT: typo(s)

Edited by CharlotteTheHarlot
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Microsoft preparing response to Xbox One DRM concerns ( NeoWin 2013-06-01 )

Yep, I'm so sure. The response will no doubt try to "Mojave Experiment" us into believeing we're doing it wrong or that DRM is good as long as they disguise it. There is one commenter, most likely a bonafide Softie ( or bucking for the MicroZealot of the year title ) going way out of his way to convince people how their eyes are lying to them and that DRM is wonderful ...

As far as DRM, there is not much that can be done to change the plans. The system only functions by installing games to the hard drive. This necessitates strict DRM like Steam to prevent piracy since the game disc no longer serves any function once the game is installed.

In any case the game publishers are getting murdered by second hand sales so they need to manage the sales of used games and take back much of the lost revenue from these second hand sales. Just like Hollywood fought for royalty rights over DVD/video sales of TV shows (writers strike), the artists who create games are entitled to royalties from anyone who purchases their game (1st hand or 2nd hand). There are only 4 major publishers left in the western game business (Take2, EA, Ubi, Activision). If the status quo of GAME/Gamestop leeching half the profit of the industry continued there would likely only be 2 major publishers left by the end of the next-generation.

As I suggested upthread, this Softie has inadvertantly let slip the entire reason for games being installed on the HDD. Some people speculated it was for blazing fast performance ( because that is how we desktop users run games ), but that was a wrong guess. The real reason was to introduce DRM with no way to go back from this precedent. They could have had optional play from the DVD if they chose, but they didn't because that would be a loophole out of the hardcore DRM involving always-on and phone-home and whatever other methods they try ( Kinect counting users playing the game ). And now we have this Softie spilling the beans - DRM is vital because the games are on the HDD, what else can "they" do?

Of course the other half of that comment is downright lunacy. It is clear that this person has eliminated "private property" from his lexicon altogether. We own nothing, the all-important content creators and their publishers own it all. Your computer is a consumption device and if they had their way everything would actually be PPV ( Pay Per View ). Ford and other companies will be glad to learn of this new paradigm invented by this hard-working propagandist. They have been missing out on sales every time a used car is sold. Car companies will need to control the after-market as soon as possible. I wonder if this applies to every time a house is resold. Who gets that cash? The original owner? The Builder? Hey do I get a cut of all the PC's I built each time someone resold them? Naturally he has it in his head that this only pertains to digital stuff. Well I know that Microsoft has been behind that thought ever since the very beginning trying to keep "software" into a special category all by itself. Everything else has the doctrine of first sale but if Microsoft has their way it wouldn't exist for software. Unfortunately for them and this employee or sycophant, it is just not so, at least today.

There may be ambiguous gray areas when a product never has a physical media ( not the case today with most game after-markets ) like Steam, but even that is going to cause a battle. Older Xbox and PS games on optical discs have no such gray area, which pretty much proves this commenter has no gray matter. Where this is going is in a complete recreation of the old Ma Bell telephone monopoly and methods where we used to pay for every phone call in a phone both ( or, only "long distance" at home which often times wasn't very long at all ). This model of monetizing every single bit or electron is what they are after. The PPV angle I think is pretty accurate. They see themselves as digital overlords, metering everything from their subscribers and expecting automatic payment as well. Do the least amount of effort for the most amount of money. It is clearly devolution down to the lowest and basest form of modern business school sheeple-nomics. All our devices will be converted to cash register phone booths. Any movement toward independence and private property and privacy will be fought tooth and nail by Big Government, Big Hollywood and Big Technology.

Microsoft's latest video slams the no-contract cost of Samsung Galaxy S4 ( NeoWin 2013-06-01 )

Well another day, another attack ad. I don't know what's gotten into them or the water supply up in Seattle, but they have somehow turned themselves into an angry, evil company in the post WinXP years. The Vista experience really changed them, much much more than they hoped to change everyone else with their Vista Experience. This is one of those threads at NeoWin which is self-explaining because even at that fanboy site the opinions on this kind of MicroStrategy are critical and unkind, to say the least. I'll just quote one commenter: "You know its bad when people from here think Microsoft pulled a stupid." :yes: But why the crazy comparison of the top-end Galaxy with a mid-range Nokia? I think it is very simple ... Samsung's Galaxy S4 soars to 10m sales in under a month. That's all it took. A wildly successful launch for that phone and Microsoft turned green with envy. I'll let the shrinks determine the contagious mental condition that is rampaging around Redmond, there must be some term for it. Meanwhile I'll just use layman's terms ... IBM-envy, Apple-envy, Google-envy, Samsung-envy ...

Having said that, every cellphone is ridiculously expensive these days, probably costing double what they should. These things are rolling off the assembly lines ( what was the purpose of them according to Henry Ford? ) and when they are handled by human beings it is a workforce of semi-slave labor working for peanuts. All the R&D was done long ago for cellphones so it's not like they are recouping any real outlays. Furthermore, we know the cost of parts on most of the phones already and they are maybe 25% of the final price, and even at 50% it would still be a ripoff. The actual capital investment lies solely in marketing and advertising. The only reason they get away with it is because the final cost is buried in contracts well-hidden from the eyes of the consumers.

Gloves Off: Microsoft builds Windows vs. iPad comparison site ( NeoWin 2013-06-01 )

Well another day, another attack ad ... not really. At least this one is closer to a product comparison, but with two nitpicks I think. First of all, shouldn't it be Windows vs iOS? :yes: More importantly, they have got to stop calling this Windows 8 Metro thing "Windows" at all. Brand or trademark or whatever, this thing lost the right to be called Windows when it stopped having ... wait for it ... Windows. Yeah, they're still there in theory ... in the desktop ... when you use x86 software ... complete with sharp-cornered flattened non-3D bland un-shadowed GUI elements ... but they're still there ... I guess. Seriously Microsoft. Rename this abomination to Microsoft Tiles, it's not too late. :yes:

Kinect for Windows used to create new hotel kiosk display ( NeoWin 2013-06-01 )

If you are a frequent traveler, you might have seen that some hotel lobbies now have large touchscreens that offer information about the hotel's activities, schedules and other tidbits. In a post on the Kinect for Windows blog guest-written by members of nsquared, they talk about some of their products, including their hotel kiosk screen.

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If you're a frequent traveler you also know that most hotels have the hotel information available on the TV in your room, have been for many, many years too. You see where this is going and the problem coming up? It will be inevitable that manufacturers of these units will get tired of selling one or two units to each and every hotel when they can instead sell 4 or 5 thousand to each hotel. Then we get to the problem of Kinect with its cameras and microphones being installed in a hotel room. :blink: Yep, what could possibly go wrong here? Just for the record, the only places that Casinos cannot place cameras are in public bathrooms and in hotel rooms. They are everywhere else. They will need to get laws changed of course, and with the proper greasing of greedy palms this is a good possibility. Then they'll assure us that they can be trusted. :no: They cannot. I'll just repeat what I wrote upthread a ways ...

Speaking of spying and big brother .... There is some astonishing cognitive dissonance employed by fanboys over this subject. The MicroZealots and MetroTards are infamous for attacking Google at every turn, supporting Microsoft's Scroogle attack campaign, while decrying targeted ads in the Google search results. Fine, that's their opinion and it is valid. But how the he!! do you go from there to accepting the capabilities of Kinect paired with the potential of Microsoft Patent #20120278904! What manner of cranial neurological disorder leads to such a disconnect?

Can you imagine a couple fooling around on the couch and suddenly the Microsoft Hal 9000 launches a Trojan commercial or a PSA about venereal disease? :blink: That would be a truly targeted demographic! And corporations will pay big bucks to get their ads in at such an opportune moment. :yes:

EDIT: typo(s), added image source link

Edited by CharlotteTheHarlot
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