2 ms·

Am I the only one smiling at seeing the equivalent of limited-edition software in the year 2012? Twitter is weird.

by kmfrk 14y ago

negativity 14y ago
I'm glad I'm not alone in thinking this is beyond absurd. Really, now. It's on the level of: PAYING for ELECTRONIC "BOOK" "RENTALS" Think about that. Royalties, intellectual property, and blah blah blah aside... They insist on implying that you're "renting" electronic signals. They don't want you to think in terms of paying an ISP for a connection (service), and then the transmission (bandwidth), AND THEN THE CONTENT (the "book") ON TOP OF ALL THAT. You could just KEEP the "book" forever, with virtualized backups if you really wanted to. And can't we just dispose of the "book" euphemisms too? What you're really paying for is a brokered decryption of information. Gee, thanks for brightening up that reality with all the duckspeak, marketing. It's just bits. Induced magnetic fields on a metal platter. Energized wires in an integrated circuit. I mean I guess you could take the view that we all "rent" beer, in a certain wry sense. But that's like when inmates rationalize that everyone's in a "prison" somehow, or when prostitutes rationalize that all house-wives are essentially "prostitutes" with a different name. Seriously. Paying for a Twitter interface? You can just use the website. For free. $20 is like 4 hours of work for someone who're making minimum wage.
negativity 14y ago
Oh, wait. I'm sorry I was thinking about an even sillier premise: "BORROWING" ELECTRONIC "BOOKS" and then "RETURNING" THEM, or else YOU PAY "LATE" FEES. Someone actually mentioned that idea to me, when we were discussing how the free public library system was imploding in wake of pervasive digital media. I conceded that, yeah, it's kind of sad, but then I just shrugged and changed the subject.

2 ms·

Am I the only one smiling at seeing the equivalent of limited-edition software in the year 2012? Twitter is weird.

by kmfrk 14y ago

Am I the only one smiling at seeing the equivalent of limited-edition software in the year 2012? Twitter is weird.

negativity 14y ago
I'm glad I'm not alone in thinking this is beyond absurd. Really, now. It's on the level of: PAYING for ELECTRONIC "BOOK" "RENTALS" Think about that. Royalties, intellectual property, and blah blah blah aside... They insist on implying that you're "renting" electronic signals. They don't want you to think in terms of paying an ISP for a connection (service), and then the transmission (bandwidth), AND THEN THE CONTENT (the "book") ON TOP OF ALL THAT. You could just KEEP the "book" forever, with virtualized backups if you really wanted to. And can't we just dispose of the "book" euphemisms too? What you're really paying for is a brokered decryption of information. Gee, thanks for brightening up that reality with all the duckspeak, marketing. It's just bits. Induced magnetic fields on a metal platter. Energized wires in an integrated circuit. I mean I guess you could take the view that we all "rent" beer, in a certain wry sense. But that's like when inmates rationalize that everyone's in a "prison" somehow, or when prostitutes rationalize that all house-wives are essentially "prostitutes" with a different name. Seriously. Paying for a Twitter interface? You can just use the website. For free. $20 is like 4 hours of work for someone who're making minimum wage.
negativity 14y ago
Oh, wait. I'm sorry I was thinking about an even sillier premise: "BORROWING" ELECTRONIC "BOOKS" and then "RETURNING" THEM, or else YOU PAY "LATE" FEES. Someone actually mentioned that idea to me, when we were discussing how the free public library system was imploding in wake of pervasive digital media. I conceded that, yeah, it's kind of sad, but then I just shrugged and changed the subject.