Timer Warner, Charter, and the rest of the cable companies that sat back and refused to upgrade, refused to offer better services are not going to do well with their current scheme to charge more and offer less, despite the verbal support of people who refuse to look beyond their couch and the small portion of the world they live in.
An educated man would know that in this day and age, it doesn't matter where you live. I lived outside the USA for a little while. i assure you if someone judged my actions based on the location of my ISP, they'd be just as much an idiot. Someone who doesn't like women in the traditional roles of men. Someone who judges people based on where they live. Someone who reacts to cultures not their own with disdain and hostility. Someone who is incapable of having a debate or a discussion a
[e digicons]:bebi:[/e] oops double post
[quote who="Zaisha" reply="24" id="2133561"] Quoting psychoak, reply 23 words Incidentally, when you think about it, the government (of any country) is really the biggest monopoly around. It has a monopoly on legislative power, it has a monopoly on the use of force (police, army, laws covering self defence....) and so on. Heck, it is even the king of monopolistic price-fixing in that they get to decide the rates you pay for your services (ie. taxes
[quote who="Zaisha" reply="8" id="2132345"] I readily agree that a free market is the best way to guarantee the best products at the lowest prices. The problem is that it's not just the government that can keep the market from functioning properly, a big enough company/cartel/trust can do the job just as well. I once heard the statement: "companies will be exactly as bad as they can get away with". While this is a rather pessimistic statement in most cases, there will alway be a co
[quote who="Kend0" reply="18" id="2131983"]Barring educational games like Oregon Trail and Carmen San Diego, Kings Quest. Do not remember which one though. After that, Duke Nukem 3D. [/quote] Maybe my memory is not serving me too well, King's Quest was an educational game?
Some of you really need to spend some time outside of the USA. The internet offerings here are slow and expensive compared to our peers. It's just plain crap. It's difficult to believe (but certainly not impossible) that people defending these companies have experienced much else but these companies which is a real shame. It can be better and less expensive; it's already done.
[quote who="Jacob Marley" reply="25" id="2124581"]Successful companies stick to their core competencies. For Stardock those competencies are making and supporting great software. Companies that try to diverisfy away from their core comepetencies tend to suffer. [/quote] Well they may not initially but when things go down,t hey revert back to the core. Besides, I build my own computer, don't need another company offering to do it for me for a premium. Althou
[quote who="psychoak" reply="24" id="2128287"]Nesrie, you flat don't know what you're talking about. The board game better describes a monopoly than your misguided views do. [/quote] Oh yes. Insults. That will get your point across. Bravo. I bet you feel big now. Just because I won't agree to your narrow definition of monopolies you think you know anything about me? Good luck with that.
[quote who="Annatar11" reply="4" id="2128186"] Now the counter point, if I was willing to buy it new at or shortly after release, and they offer a used digital download for a reduced price, then how exactly is that going to benefit the publisher/developer? It's not, so then how is this going to work? Which is the same thing as what I'm wondering, really. For any other second-hand good, there are tangible and physical drawbacks to it being second-hand. For a digital game
[quote who="Annatar11" reply="2" id="2128075"]At the same time though, a concept of a "used license" is a bit hard to wrap your mind around. Used physical goods/property have an obvious connotation - everything physical has wear and tear, so when you buy used you're not guaranteed a fresh-from-the-factory product (and in the case of games, no mint condition box/manual, possible cd scratches, cd key used, etc). So this system is a bit odd. When it was initially announced, I assumed
[quote who="psychoak" reply="16" id="2127410"]First problem, you're broad brushing limited monopolies and everything else covered under the legal definition of monopoly. A monopoly is absolute control, not control on street a but not b, and only for speeds above 2megs with double digit latency. Second problem, natural monopolies are not monopolies. You do not have absolute control over a good or service simply because there are no competitors. To
[quote who="Peace Phoenix" reply="19" id="2127378"] 100% Agree. It boggles the mind that the gaming industry thinks it should be entitled a cut of the secondary market when almost no other market has its hand in those transactions either. But in those cases, you get directly the good. With digital distribution, you need to be able the game whose serial id you have got. And as digital distribution is involved, somebody has to pay for support (in case of problem to in
Actually, not in all areas aer there alternatives. That's the point. And natural monopolies exist. It's not something i just made up. Just because you experience something in your corner of the world doesn't mean it's the same everywhere else.
[quote who="Savyg" reply="12" id="2127352"]You can, but if other people CAN offer service there and just haven't, it isn't a monopoly in any meaningful way. In the basic definition of the term, yes, but as far as I'm concerned not really. To me, a monopoly has to be enforced one way or another and not just there due to an underserved market. [/quote] You are confusing natural monopolies with the complete lack of a monopoly. There are real regulations and barriers to e
[quote who="CobraA1" reply="17" id="2127276"] Peer to peer selling does the developers and publishers more harm than good . . . how? I hate to compare digital good to physical goods - but physical goods have had the concept of "peer to peer" selling from the earliest days of written history, perhaps much longer. The only reason it's been so unpopular with digital goods is the risk of the owner keeping a copy. As I understand it, basically GOO takes
[quote who="psychoak" reply="10" id="2127250"]Never existed. People don't like letting things happen. It's against their nature. As for truly free market places don't create monopolies? Are youkidding. How do you think some not so scarce resources became artificially scarce. Monopolies existed long, long before the great depression during the ancient era. History is full of examples of olive presses, salt, telephone companies, railroad owners...
[quote who="Nesrie" reply="6" id="2127216"] Quoting psychoak, reply 3 How about no. They're bleeding cash in the cable business so fast they may not be in the game at all a year from now. Cable is being replaced by fios, and that dinosaur is on it's last legs. Nesrie, government backed monopolies are not monopolies created in a free market, you're supposed to actually refute a point, not reinforce it w
[quote who="psychoak" reply="3" id="2127060"]How about no. They're bleeding cash in the cable business so fast they may not be in the game at all a year from now. Cable is being replaced by fios, and that dinosaur is on it's last legs. Nesrie, government backed monopolies are not monopolies created in a free market, you're supposed to actually refute a point, not reinforce it with more examples. All but the olive press exam
[quote who="b0rsuk" reply="2" id="2126490"] Quoting Nesrie, reply 1 Right now we have consumers who steal games insulated from the consequence of their action (whether or not they think that because something is cheap to reproduce it has no value therefore they should not pay for it, it's still stealing), game Please stop this misinformation. Theft: you take something from somebody. You: +1. Owner: -1 Copyright infringe
Psst. We don't get much oil from OPEC members compared to non-open members, those two are one of the few we do get it from and OPEC doesnt' control as much as you think. It has influence but they don't stick to their own agreements. Members make backroom deals ALL the time. Boy does the media like playing them up though, apparently its working. As for truly free market places don't create monopolies? Are youkidding. How do you think some not so scarce resources became artificially sca
Incorrect. The countries involved in OPEC aren't even major trading partners to the USA. We buy from Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Nigeria, Saudia Arabia then there is Russia, also not a member of OPEC... OPEC is way down the list and that cartel isn't even that affective. They constantly break their own agreements. As for gas stations. Yeah it's pretty odd that two gas stations next to each other 99% of the time offer gas at the same price. If you go down the stree two more g
[quote who="alway" reply="8" id="2125531"] Quoting Savyg, reply 7 What monopoly? There's only one company you can get CABLE internet from? So get internet from someone else. Alltel, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T all offer wireless data plans, which means the cable company does not have any sort of monopoly. Calling a service a monopoly when other companies offer the same services is ridiculous. In ma
At School (got me started) Oregon Trail Number Munchers There was another one that i can't remember, i think it was math related and you grew a plant At Home (got me hooked) Legend of Kyrandia
[quote who="psychoak" reply="4" id="2125072"]Nesrie, you might not use the 20. It would depend on how much music and how many shows, but you're looking at 350 or so an hour on the television at standard resolution, much higher with the increasing resolutions. The gaming, patches included, uses very little bandwidth. [/quote] Okay. I will take your word for it. I will admit I never really thought about it much before. Charter hasn't mentioned the metered thing yet
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