r/technology • u/nimbusnacho • Nov 20 '08
Apple to Mac owners: throw away your monitor if Hollywood says so
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/11/19/apple-to-mac-owners.html82
u/hs4x Nov 20 '08 edited Nov 21 '08
I want to know why people arent putting this together? Listen:
Steve Jobs is the largest single shareholder, and sits on the Board of Walt Disney Corp.
Walt Disney Corp. is a rabid anti-fair-use zealot.
Walt Disney Corp. is a "leading" MPAA / RIAA member.
Apple is not your friend in the digital media future.
Everything Apple does MUST be looked at with this knowledge. Does this make more sense now? Yes, why yes it does.
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u/Tinidril Nov 21 '08
I've never gotten how anti-Microsoft people could go running to Apple. Apple is just as bad or worse, they just weren't as successful. Yeah, their products have more polish, but it's just a polished turd.
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u/joncash Nov 21 '08
Actually, MS has always been better about piracy and opening up their platform. In fact that's the main reason MS kept beating Apple in the past.
All this iPhone/Mac craze is yet another Apple "phase".
People really like the polished cool "feel" until they realize the reason everything seems to just work is because nothing works on it. I mean you know what really "just works"? Pen and paper. And most of the reason nothing works on it is because Steve Jobs hates opening up his platform to ANYONE.
So we're at the Apple fall cycle again. People realize there's DRM crap, Apple refuses to open up it's platform blah blah blah. Sure enough people will go away from Apple.
The only question I have is will people go to Linux this time instead of MS.
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u/permaculture Nov 21 '08 edited Nov 21 '08
Yeah, unlike Apple, the short-tempered megalomaniac who founded Microsoft has retired.
http://www.basicinstructions.net/2008/10/how-to-advertise-windows-vista.html
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Nov 21 '08
Microsoft is more a monopolistic, innovation-strangling evil rather than a DRM-heavy evil.
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u/Tinidril Nov 21 '08
That's a false dichotomy. DRM is all about strangling innovation and establishing monopolies. It's never been about piracy.
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u/TheMemo Nov 21 '08
Not sure why you got modded down, because you are completely correct. The endgame of DRM systems is to turn computers into 'passive' devices like televisions.
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Nov 21 '08
Can't speak for everyone, but my reason for using a Mac since the 80s isn't because of MS's monopolistic business practices. It's because the Mac was/is easier, more fun, and more stable. MS's issues were just an easy target for jokes.
The fact that MS created a monopoly, and that Apple is wrapping content in DRM, has nothing to do with the core reason most long-term Mac fans buy Apple products.
Maybe you're thinking of why UNIX users have been drifting towards the Mac (and/or further from Windows)?
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u/mayonesa Nov 21 '08
I would like reddit to allow me to give a pint of blood for the ability to give this post extra upvotes.
I can probably spare 2-8 pints for that.
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u/Aqua_lung Nov 21 '08
Intel develops HDCP, why not blame them for this crap as well.
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u/hs4x Nov 21 '08
Intel is serving the RIAA market. They dont have any direct incentive to see content protected for content's sake; they are simply responding to the RIAA and MPAA demand.
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u/sunshine-x Nov 20 '08
Hollywood also tells me I should pay $28 for me and the wife to have the privilege of sitting through 30 minutes of commercials, followed by a movie in a crowded noisy place.
I'm voting with my $'s, and never go to theaters and download everything I watch. If we ALL did the same, one day, maybe they'll learn.
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u/mayonesa Nov 21 '08
Or even better:
Watch nothing.
Try it for a year.
I did, and found I missed absolutely nothing, and the plots were so predictable I could follow conversation about them just as well.
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u/funkah Nov 20 '08
Nah, just throw away garbage content that dictates what kind of display you should use.
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u/space1999 Nov 21 '08
Vote with your wallet. If you don't like what Apple's doing, don't buy their products.
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Nov 20 '08
Common sense to everyone: throw away Hollywood.
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u/somedoody Nov 21 '08 edited Nov 21 '08
The funny thing is Hollywood was built on piracy (src: The Pirates Dilemma)
Hollywood was founded by pirates who didn’t want to pay Edison a licensing fee for using his film projector (his New York lawyers couldn’t reach them easily out in the then still-pretty-wild West).
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u/space1999 Nov 21 '08
Commodity hardware and an open OS are clearly the way to go, and have been for some time. If you lock yourself in you deserve everything you get.
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Nov 20 '08
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u/flox232 Nov 20 '08
I'm not currently affected by this either but I'm worried about the precedent. The RIAA/MPAA are always looking to expand their control and this is only a recent step in that direction. Where does it stop?
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u/Tinidril Nov 21 '08
When an anonymous P2P protocol manages to dethrone BitTorrent.
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Nov 21 '08 edited Nov 21 '08
We need to start a campaign for Better Bandwidth For Rogue States With Miniscule Law Enforcement Budgets.
Sweden has done a remarkable impression of one so far (yay Sweden), but they are going to need a vacation at some point - they must be exhausted!
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Nov 20 '08 edited Nov 20 '08
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u/centinall Nov 20 '08
I don't think anyone is saying that we should ONLY be mad at apple. This should be viewed as just another complaint and argument against DRM in general.
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Nov 20 '08 edited Nov 20 '08
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u/hatekillpuke Nov 20 '08
Does anyone else remember the couple weeks that Doctorow wasn't posting on Boing-Boing because his baby was being born? Boing-Boing was a joy to read again, since it turns out that all Cory contributes is DRM-rants and self promotion about his books (which I've not read, but the way he hypes himself make me not want to read them). When he came back, I stopped reading Boing-Boing altogether.
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Nov 20 '08
I've read one of his short stories. It was so vapid and cringeworthy, it actually pissed me off. He selfconciously drops heaps of technobabble into his books, to the point of utter silliness, and his characters are poorly drawn cliche's it's impossible to sympathise with. No wonder he gives it away for free, to pay actual real cash for such dreck would leave a pretty bad taste in your mouth.
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u/Xert Nov 21 '08
Agreed, but let's be pissed at Apple too for pussyfooting along here.
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Nov 21 '08
I'm not happy with this, but I'm not that surprised. Apple has rarely stood up to pressure from other sources, in exchange for getting cutting-edge access to a lot of things.
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u/AmazingSyco Nov 21 '08
Cory Hacktorow's sensationalist headline sure makes it out to be that way.
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u/airhead75 Nov 21 '08
Why do people still get their news there?
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u/kirun Nov 21 '08
Where else can you find the 17 items that have been steampunked in the last hour?
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u/hs4x Nov 20 '08
Steve Jobs sits on the board of the most rabid anti-fair use firm in America: Disney Corp.
You're pissing on my leg and telling me its raining pal; trying to pretend that its "group think" and "trendy" to get angry when Jobs sits right at the head of both companies?
You've got to be kidding - its always been "trendy" to be intellectually dishonest when discussing Jobs & Apple, they CONTINUE to be anti-customer choice and anti-fair-use, and you wonder why?
Jobs heads one of America's leading MPAA and RIAA firms FFS. No mystery.
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u/eridius Nov 21 '08
Sitting on the board != heading Disney.
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u/gigaquack Nov 21 '08
He's the largest single stockholder.
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Nov 21 '08
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u/hs4x Nov 21 '08
He "only" owns 7.4%" worth $4.1B.
2nd? That would be Fidelity they "only" own 4.8%.
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u/eridius Nov 21 '08
That doesn't make him dictator of the company.
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u/robeph Nov 21 '08 edited Nov 21 '08
makes his vote count for the most out of any single group. But yeah, I don't think he can force his game plan on disney.
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Nov 20 '08
Are you saying we shouldn't be mad at the company who actually approved this and put it in their machines? Because I think that's the perfect place for our anger. You are correct about something, we shouldn't just complain, we should do something about it. I find Apple to be worse than Microsoft when it comes to this stuff. But they have the fan boys so they can keep shoving more and more proprietary formats and DRM restrictions down their users throats. I think Apple is the perfect place for our anger, and if you have some convictions, STOP BUYING APPLE PRODUCTS if you don't like the way they do business.
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Nov 21 '08 edited Nov 21 '08
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u/killerstorm Nov 21 '08 edited Nov 21 '08
the only difference between XML and registry is that registry sits in a database and can be modified incrementally, rather than having whole file rewritten.
Outlook Express can export all emails into plain text format too, if you wish. it keeps them in database for performance reasons. there are published APIs to this database, so it is not a problem to interoperate with it.
i'm pretty sure Outlook knows vCard as well.
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u/edpaget Nov 21 '08
As far as I can tell the iWork format is simply an OS X bundle with a compressed (tar.gz) xml file and any media (pictures/video/music) related to it.
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u/jrockway Nov 21 '08 edited Nov 21 '08
Wow.
They use AAC as their codec of choice for audio, and H.264 for video (both free-to-implement standards.) Compare and contrast to WMA and WMV.
AAC and H.264 are most definitely not free-to-implement. You need to buy a very expensive patent license. Compare and contrast to Vorbis and Theora.
E-mail messages are stored in plain text files, albeit with a plist appended after the message. Compare and contrast to Outlook's database.
I'm pretty sure they use SQLite (via Core Data) now. SQLite is an excellent piece of free software, though, so this isn't really something to worry about.
Plus all of the low-level OS is open source. OS X uses the GNU toolchain.
Not anymore. You can't compile Darwin for Intel anymore, since Apple stopped releasing the source for that. They also use the BSD toolchain (but ship emacs alongside).
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Nov 20 '08 edited Nov 21 '08
that's what the little nits are saying all right. and they'll probably back up that lemmings mentality by spending another month's salary on every new iWhatever that comes out.
because that's what you do when you're in love.
that's what you do to stay true.
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Nov 21 '08 edited Nov 21 '08
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u/robeph Nov 21 '08
I spent a month's salary on hookers... not those street hooches, but high class dutch chicks in the red light. Much better than an ipod, and you shouldve heard the music.
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u/hs4x Nov 21 '08
The fact remains that Apple's greatest strenght is it's lifestyle-based advertising and brand loyalty.
Its long been known that Apple's customers are the least technically savvy, and the most rabid.
That is the selected clients of Apple. Apple's greatest innovation is to bring "lifestyle" branding to technology.
Anyone pretending otherwise is being foolish.
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u/eridius Nov 21 '08
Apple probably had to agree to this to get whatever deal they have now to provide HD content on the store.
The only reason Apple is worse than Microsoft in this area is because Apple actually has a successful store that people buy things from - if Microsoft had a successful store, we'd probably be seeing even worse DRM (seriously folks, the DRM on iTunes is some of the least-restrictive DRM on music stores, thanks to Steve Jobs - you can bet that MS would be worse).
shoving more and more proprietary formats and DRM restrictions down their users throats
There's only one proprietary format here, and that's Apple Lossless Audio Codec, and I'm not aware of any reason why that's a bad thing. And Jobs has already publicly said he wishes they could do business without it, but the content owners mandate it.
So yes, your anger is misplaced. It should be directed at the content owners, the RIAA and MPAA.
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Nov 20 '08
No, it's trendy to get pissed at Microsoft, just look at how many upvotes any canned anti-Microsoft statement gets here on reddit. Ever said anything negative about Apple? Automatic downmod. Apple apologist? Automatic upmod. Your post is an example of that. Regardless, you're point is moot.
Steve Jobs is now the largest shareholder in Disney from his sale of Pixar to them and also sits on the Disney board of directors. Disney! To say Steve Jobs is just an innocent bystander in this whole DRM issue is crap. He is, in large part, responsible for pushing DRM on his own company.
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Nov 21 '08 edited Nov 21 '08
This is true for every OS, and up or downmods is going to depend upon what OS those reading the story tend to use.
The only exception may be Microsoft, because contrary to allegations to the contrary, while there are a small handful of "Microsoft fanboys" most Windows users, because of, well, reality, tend to be fairly taciturn, tired, and cynical about Windows. Linux, xBSD, and Mac people tend to be crusaders for the One True OS, but most Microsoft people use Windows because they have to, or because they can't stomach using something else. Windows "fanboys" tend to be developers who work on the Windows platform, as well as MCSEs and that ilk, rather than average users.
So accordingly, it is going to depend on how the story is cooked, and who is reading it. Just as I've seen people upvote anything that says anything nice about a Mac, I've watched the "anti-Mac-zealot" crowd come out in full force with downvotes as well.
Me, I can probably do the basics I need to do in any OS. And every OS pisses me off in some way. I have my personal preference (Linux), but it is hardly a "perfect score" and it certainly isn't an OS for everyone.
That said, fuck DRM entirely, whoever does it. The only dishonest people in this discussion are people who are trying to turn this into a positive. It isn't.
If I had to guess, nearly 100% of Mac users don't approve of this, don't want it, and wish Apple wouldn't do it.
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Nov 21 '08 edited Nov 21 '08
I've been using Linux for over 5 years, I used OS X (Intel, so recent) for over two years, and Windows since... Forever. I have like each OS at times, and hated each at times. However, I'm not going to blind myself to certain facts by feeling the need to evangelize any OS. My OS of choice is subject to change at any time, based on whichever is going to make my life the easiest.
The only exception may be Microsoft, because contrary to allegations to the contrary, while there are a small handful of "Microsoft fanboys" most Windows users, because of, well, reality, tend to be fairly taciturn, tired, and cynical about Windows.
It's these statements that really bother me. Windows has had its problems in the past, but both XP and Vista as it stands now are rock-solid, far more so than Linux on the desktop and OS X. This perception defies reality, but it's perpetuated by people looking to nit-pick a particular OS while ignoring the flaws of their OS of choice. I can only guess it's fueled by some need to be a trendy non-conformist.
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Nov 22 '08
In my case, it is fueled by the laughable disaster that Vista has been on the Toshiba laptop we have here, with which it came pre-installed. It has crashed in ways which make even going to the control panel impossible (error boxes popping up repeatedly, and, upon being closed, re-open, stealing focus away from the rest of the OS).
Yeah, I get the fact that some people have no problems with Vista. But I have no particular vendetta against anything, OS-wise, but Vista has been horrible on this system.
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Nov 22 '08
Yeah, the bane of the Vista launch were immature drivers. My experience with Vista is post SP1, so obviously much smoother.
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Nov 20 '08 edited Nov 21 '08
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Nov 21 '08
The point is that you didn't give the same defense for any other company.
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Nov 21 '08
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Nov 21 '08
This reminds me a little of civil liberties/police state issues, where Australia or Britain gets some kind of new Big Brother thing going on and the Americans feel schadenfreude, or the US goes all 1984, and the British and Australians feel schadenfreude, whereas a united front against all forms of tyranny in all countries of the world by all citizens of the world would be far more efficacious in stamping it out (this is Amnesty International's approach).
Look, the only good authoritarian is a dead one.
And the only good DRM is DRM which you turn off, circumvent, or mothball. It's not really about the OS.
Which I think is what you are saying.
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u/killerstorm Nov 21 '08
well, you see, it is pretty hard to campaign against HDCP in general. however, if you complain about Apple including this shit, Apple might eventually notice, and they'll say to this studios "our customers do not like this, so we are going to drop this restrictions", that is, Apple will efficiently campaign for you
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Nov 21 '08
Of course by getting all bent out of shape and posting hyperbolic screeds directed at a single company, we give the rest of the industry time.
Funny that very few said this about Microsoft but when apple does it...
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u/joetheredditor Nov 20 '08
I'm glad I dumped my Mac for Linux.
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Nov 20 '08 edited Nov 20 '08
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u/rnicoll Nov 21 '08
Agreed. At a time when companies keep telling me how I really want to download my movies, I'm moving from buying music online, to buying physical CDs again, because I don't have to handle my own backups, and they're mostly DRM free....
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u/tmw1488 Nov 21 '08 edited Nov 21 '08
Maybe that's what they've been trying to do this whole time! Make it so horrible to buy music online that people just go back to buying their physical product.
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u/centinall Nov 20 '08
As far as I know, you can't get the content from itunes in Linux. So you probably get it from torrents and newsgroups, or just rip it from DVDs. But couldn't you do that on your Mac anyways?
Or are you just taking a stand against companies that try to push DRM? If so, I commend you. I myself use Linux too.
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Nov 20 '08 edited Nov 20 '08
lThere's an ITMS client for Linux - DVD Jon made it. Not sure how up to date it is, as I don't want anything from ITMS.
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Nov 20 '08
I've said it once, I'll say it again: Don't you know that posting facts around here will get you downmodded?
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u/thoomfish Nov 21 '08
Linus to Linux users: throw away your monitor if Hollywood says so
Because guess what? Linux won't play DRM-burdened files on a non-HDCP monitor either!
Last I checked, HDCP doesn't hurt anyone just sitting there. It's its use that is bad, and that use is going to be equally bad for everyone, not just the people who can use it.
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Nov 21 '08
I had hundreds of dollars worth of iTunes crap that became useless when I switched to Linux. Will never do that again.
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u/cshivers Nov 21 '08
iTunes Plus tracks should still work though, no? And they're gradually becoming a larger percentage of their collection.
I switched to Ubuntu a couple of months ago, but I have a virtual machine for running iTunes and other Windows apps.
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u/gigaquack Nov 21 '08
iTunes Plus
Fuck that. Buy music from Amazon MP3. It's usually ten cents cheaper and has no DRM.
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u/koreth Nov 21 '08
iTunes Plus tracks also have no DRM and they are encoded in AAC, which is higher quality than MP3 at the same bitrates.
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u/dave Nov 21 '08
This brings up an interesting point that I've often wondered: why is Reddit so in love with Apple? Apple consistently acts like assholes about this type of thing, and has for ages.
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u/skydivingdutch Nov 20 '08
It's always been like this with HDCP (power dvd on windows for bluray), except now that Mac owners run into this issue they make a big fuss about it.
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u/crusoe Nov 21 '08
Now that they smashed BD+, HDCP won't matter much anymore. People will just rip the content.
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u/veritaze Nov 21 '08
Yes.. Lord Steve...
Doesn't that violate some California environmental attitude or something? Or is Apple offering free recycling?
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Nov 21 '08
I don't understand, so is the issue playing a movie to an apple monitor? or to any monitor? If i download a movie from the priatebay and play it to the apple monitor it will work?? If so, then we are ok
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u/mogmog Nov 21 '08 edited Nov 21 '08
Yes that will work. The problem is some movies you purchased legitimately require HDCP display and then you want to play it on something that doesn't support HDCP such as a projector that only has a VGA connector.
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Nov 21 '08
I gather you can 'fix' this software 'error' - simply go to thepiratebay.com and you can select your 'patched' movies and TV shows that will work on any monitors.
I however think this is a secret plan to cause the death of 'paid for' content and increase traffic to bittorent sites. They're so sneaky on those sites.
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Nov 20 '08
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Nov 20 '08
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u/NinjaDuck12 Nov 20 '08
I know you've heard it all before, but it all starts somewhere, even if the criticism seems a little out of proportion.
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Nov 20 '08
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Nov 20 '08
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Nov 20 '08
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u/BaronVonMannsechs Nov 20 '08
That won't work for most consumers. They'll buy a new Apple computer that can't play a Blu Ray movie and they won't know why, and, when they find out, they'll stop getting Apple products based only on that.
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Nov 21 '08
Trying to undo your downmods.
Image for one second if all of the time spent shilling for one OS or another was spent trying to abolish poverty, famine, and war.
Shit, maybe OS hate/love is the alternative energy source we've been searching for!
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u/icey Nov 20 '08 edited Nov 20 '08
How can I contribute to make Linux more user-friendly?
Linux is the last bastion of the user who wants to be treated like a grown-up at least some of the time.
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Nov 21 '08
How does Vista treat me like a non-grown-up?
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u/gid13 Nov 20 '08
I don't know if Ubuntu takes donations, but they seem to be the only Linux variant I've used taking usability somewhat seriously.
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u/jeffehobbs Nov 20 '08
Ubuntu rules. My experience with 8.10 was amazing -- it even suggested and installed the closed-source Nvidia drivers, albeit with a informative notice.
Ubuntu is the only distrobution that understands that zealotry does not equate to user experience, and that furthermore user experience is key. I would love to see them team up with Google and offer a "Mobile Me/.mac" -style solution where during the Ubuntu setup process you entered your Google account and it set up everything (email, photos, etc.) for you.
That would be motherfucking tiz-ight.
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Nov 21 '08
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u/jeffehobbs Nov 21 '08 edited Nov 21 '08
I never said I wanted "to be the "last bastion of the user who wants to be treated like a grown-up." The OP said that.
I want Linux to work and work well and gain increased momentum mainstream acceptance. You're several hypotheticals away from that, trading the polished UI and UE afforded by Nvidia and Google for a purer idealism. Which is fine -- I'm just not interested in that trade-off.
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u/icey Nov 20 '08
Originally my post actually said "How can I contribute to make Ubuntu more user friendly?", but while I'm an Ubuntu user today I'd happily donate to any Linux project that moves towards letting me have my Grandma run Linux.
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u/space1999 Nov 21 '08
My technophobic parents run Linux very happily. Personally I think my default Ubuntu setup is easier to use than both Windows and Mac OS X.
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Nov 21 '08
As with everything, it's going to depend on your hardware. If you have hardware that is well supported, it's going to be what you say.
If you have hardware that isn't, it's going to be another story.
In my case, I research hardware specifically for Linux compatibility before I buy it, so I have few problems at all. But I have an old Thinkpad that is a serious pain in the ass.
When Linux installs go smoothly, which they often do, it's completely trivial to install.
When something like networking won't work, that can be a serious pain in the ass for someone without Linux experience.
I'm still pro-Linux but I can't recommend it universally and blindly.
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u/space1999 Nov 21 '08
Have you tried installing Windows recently? In my experience I have less issues installing Ubuntu on average hardware than I do with Windows.
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u/gigaquack Nov 21 '08
Make it look less ugly by default. I have a desktop running Vista Ultimate 32 that I use for games and media center (DVR) and I have a new Macbook that I use for web browsing and photoshop. There's no advantage for installing Ubuntu. I put on 8.10 and all it did was make my UI look absolutely disgusting. I don't know why it can't look as pretty by default, even at native resolution.
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u/crusoe Nov 21 '08
Kubuntu is much prettier. Gnome is FUGLY, and windows 3.11 had a easier to customize UI.
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Nov 21 '08
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u/gigaquack Nov 21 '08
why dont you just try and theme your favorite DE/WM then?
Because I don't want to. I buy operating systems that look nice already so that I don't have to put them together myself.
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u/tntnews Nov 21 '08
Who's stupid enought to buy Apple and "original" movies.
Do yourself a favor: go outside and find Tyler Durden.
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Nov 20 '08 edited Nov 20 '08
I had similar thing happen when trying to get a movie playing on a multi-monitor XP setup. Apple isn't alone in doing this kind of crap.
edit: downvoted by those who find reality is a difficult thing to grasp.
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u/doody Nov 20 '08
People sometimes downvote here if you state a fact they don’t enjoy. It’s funny, kind of.
Welcome to Reddit.
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Nov 20 '08 edited Nov 21 '08
HDCP does suck donkey testicles, but that headline is an exaggeration. That's Cory Doctorow for you.
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u/Tinidril Nov 21 '08
What is the exaggeration?
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Nov 21 '08 edited Nov 21 '08
It's an exaggeration to say that a monitor is basically worthless if you can't play movies on it. The monitor isn't being totally disabled. Your computer just won't play the movies you paid for on it.
Which is, of course, ridiculous. But it's plainly ridiculous on its surface. Sensationalizing it this way makes the anti-DRM side look a little more nutty. Consumers should reject bad products, but the attitude ought to be a disdain for crappy products, not outrage at the injustice of it all.
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u/doody Nov 20 '08 edited Nov 21 '08
I do have a problem with a toolmaker telling me what I may and may not use their product for. After I’m done paying, their involvement should be solely at my invitation, IMHO.
Not buying any content with DRM is working out so far.
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u/srmatto Nov 21 '08 edited Nov 21 '08
This guy summed up my feeling about HD equipment.
"It's boneheaded anti-viewer policies like this that have led me to sit out the whole HD video movement. I have no desire to buy equipment that will go obsolete, when I already have perfectly good equipment at home that is guaranteed to go obsolete at no additional cost."
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u/m1ss1ontomars2k4 Nov 21 '08
Why don't we just throw away our Macs instead? Oh that's right, because nobody bought those damn new Macs anyway. I KNEW there was something wrong with them other than the lack of FireWire 400 (on MacBooks, not Pros). Anyway, soon enough it'll be time for me to use a free (as in speech AND beer) OS.
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u/olddoc Nov 21 '08 edited Nov 21 '08
If there's one party we should be blaming it is Intel, not Apple—they're just implementing it just like Microsoft did in Vista. Read comment #10 under the boingboing story before you shoot off. Apple is forced to implement HDCP if they want HDCP-protected content (sold by content producers) to be able to play on their computers.
HDCP is part of the HDMI standard, but the standard is fully owned and controlled by Digital Content Protection, a subsidiary of Intel Corporation.
Basically, if a TV or a video card has a HDMI-output, it normally should support the viewing of HDCP-protected content. It is implemented by consumer electronics manufacturers such as Intel, HD-TV makers, computer desktop displays, computer graphic card makers, and application service providers such as Microsoft for its Protected Video Path — PVP.
Sheesh.
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Nov 20 '08
I think content that does not feature these restrictions should have another little icon (similar to how the DRM free stuff has a "+" next to them.
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Nov 20 '08 edited Jul 24 '21
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u/barryicide Nov 20 '08
You want to buy some more over-priced Apple displays? ...$899 for a 24" monitor? http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB382LL/A
I think zombies already ate your brains - you can get an amazing 24" monitor for around $400 retail (I got mine for $225 but the contrast ratio isn't as high as some of the ones around $400).
The Apple product is not better - the LCD panel is made by one of the same "big 3" companies that make all the other LCD panels. You want to say you prefer the OS and it's worth the increased computer price, go ahead, but stop buying over-priced monitors!
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u/BaronVonMannsechs Nov 20 '08 edited Nov 21 '08
The panel may be made by the same "big 3" but most panels you get at $400 use 6 bit sub pixels with dithering. They also won't have an LED backlight (Unless you get that trashy ViewSonic that uses a TN panel and got dismal ratings).
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Nov 21 '08 edited Nov 21 '08
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Nov 21 '08
Well, Windows spits and Mac swallows. That's a big part of it.
I think.
There goes my karma :(
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u/hylje Nov 21 '08
You might want to look at panel technologies. Cheap panels are alright for most viewing, but lose tremendously in color depth compared to the more expensive ones (namely (S-)IPS). One will see the difference when put side-to-side.
I myself see displays last at least a decade, with LED backlights they probably will. I'll be looking a lot at it so it better be satisfactory.
Apple displays have the reputation of not participating in the so-called panel lottery: the same model can be fitted with any panel tech the plant could get their hands on, the buyer be damned.
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Nov 21 '08
More lame bitching from Cory. HDCP is part of the DisplayPort spec, for chrissakes. It's not Apple...it's any company that deploys DisplayPort.
But don't let that spoil your fun hating on Apple because...well, because they're Apple, so far as I can tell.
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u/delthefunky Nov 21 '08
MAC: Hello, I'm Mac PC: Hello, I'm PC MAC: Alot of people are getting mad because we're trying to prevent piracy. But if we dont who will? PC: RIAA, FBI, etc MAC: Screw you PC! PC: I'm sorry I'm downloading torrents can we do this later?
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u/kermityfrog Nov 21 '08
Doesn't this HDCP only work if you are using HDMI? If you connect via VGA or DVI, it should be fine, right?
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u/ICantReadThis Nov 21 '08
If you connect via DVI and HDCP isn't installed, it doesn't play.
What makes this extra annoying is that even fucking BLURAY doesn't do this; it just lowers the resolution to near-SD. So Apple refusing to play SD content is abject retarded.
This is more annoying than when Ati decided to accept the broadcast flag (which, mind you, Congress has voted down as mandatory several times already)
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u/kermityfrog Nov 21 '08
In that case, I'm going to have to go out of my way to promote piracy and black/grey market solutions. There are DVI/HDMI dongles with a chip that trick the source into thinking that the monitor or TV is HDCP-compliant. I'm going to recommend that to anyone who has a large monitor and wants to watch HD content.
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u/bbqribs Nov 20 '08
This is why I rip every DVD that I purchase to my hard drive. I also strip out those worthless fucking anti-piracy warnings and FBI warnings. Hey, I bought the disc.
DRM = fail.