| War |
[Aug. 4th, 2006|01:37 am] |
There is a war going on. And it seems like the vast majority of ppl on this planet don't even know it. Perhaps they are distracted by all the little IRL wars going on right now; Iraq, Israel, Lebanon. Or more likely there are just not enough ppl who are "plugged in" enough to realize what the internet is really all about. Oh sure, they hear stories, they know everything the television tells them. But your television is lying.
TV can't help it really, I mean its strictly a one way communication format; no matter how many times you "vote" on american idol. Besides, half of you go to the internet to cast your pathetic votes anyway. And that's barely a flea on the tip of the iceberg of where the war starts. Napster was a much bigger blip on the radar; but still, it was barely a beginning and not even that. Napster was more like a visible symptom of what was already in progress.
I shall call this war "The Data War" and its far bigger than most of you think. Its not just about mp3s, nor even just about filesharing. Its about EVERY SINGLE METHOD OF COMMUNICATION ON THIS PLANET. And eventually perhaps beyond. The entire economic structure of all media and all forms of communication on this earth are going through a massive revolution; they are all being dragged towards a completely new orbit, whose axis is the internet. I think we could even call this world war III. Who knew it wouldn't be about nukes?
Television:
As I was hinting, TV is being sucked down into the WWW like a toy boat in a toilet. Why bother paying for cable TV when you can download all your favorite shows with your broadband connection? Sure Tivo is nice, but why bother? I don't have to set a stupid box to record all my favorite shows, i just jump online and grab them whenever I want. Usually commercial free even. (unless you count the banner ads on the torrent site)
Telephone:
Ma Bell has been scrambling for a while now, what with competition from all those other services due to the big break up. Now its also fighting cellphones; but thats nothing. Go over to http://Skype.com . I don't even own a working telephone right now, of any kind. A cell phone would be nice , but i just can't afford it yet. So free Voice Over IP (voip) works fine for right now. And when i get a few dolllars together I might even pay to get incoming calls. Ma Bell will probably survive though, they offer internet service. Not as fast as cable, but its a start.
Porn:
Do I even need to go there? srsly, just goto http://thehun.com . I'm sure there's probably better sites out there; anyone know of a good free pornshare community? I mean i assume one exists already; how hard can it be to set up a community site where ppl just trade naked pics of eachother? I mean other than fighting with uptight christian moral police.
Movies:
You still buy DVDs? why? i mean unless its some really obscure title, just save yourself the $15-$50 at the store. Srsly, you can use all that money yr wasting to buy a new hard drive. You'll need it, because burned dvds skip too much. The only reason i can think of to actually buy a DVD is for ripping it to your computer, and then only because blockbuster has a shitty selection. Try netflix instead. Otherwise, I would suggest going to see it at the theater, I mean they DO have a bigger screen, and after all, you gotta leave the basement once in a while.
Music:
I shouldn't even have to mention mp3s. Its the first thing everyone thinks about. Still, there are some things to talk about. Buying an mp3 is like paying a bouncer to let you into a concert for free. At a rate of say 1 cent per song, how much do you really think the artist is making off your mp3 purchase? After the label's cut? Last I heard even IRL album sales only paid the artist pennies per purchase; what the hell makes you think your pathetic investment helps your favorite band at all? Why do you think t-shirts cost $20 at a concert? Why do you suppose these "big rich rock stars" tour all year round and charge $50 a head just for you to see them one time? They do it because the label is "kind" enough to LOAN them the money to even go on tour. Its a loan they desperately need too. because without ticket sales and t-shirt sales at every stop, they don't make SHIT! Hasn't it ever occurred to you to wonder why they right so many songs about the trials of being "on the road"? Would you spend half your life jammed in a tour bus with your bandmates, thousands of miles from your girlfriend/wife and children if you could sit on your ass and watch royalties pile up from your penny-a-piece mp3 downloads? Quit being a stupid asshole; if you want to "support the artist" go to their next concert, and buy a damn shirt! Anything else is just supporting their label/slavemaster. New bands sign horrible record contracts because they believe they HAVE to. But it usually turns out to be little more than a loanshark arrangement. Show the artist a better way. Don't buy their albums; go to their show instead.
Supporting major record labels is just plain wrong, and not just for the reasons above; it inhibits creativity, diversity, and just plain art in general. Think about how the system works. As I said its alot like a loan arrangement. Ever try to get a loan? Are banks looking for an exciting new investment on some crazy new business idea? No, they are looking for a stable, tried and true method that they already know is making money. Does that sound like rock and roll to you? Because its exactly how major record labels operate. They pick up an act that is either already successful, or sounds just like one that is. That's why every time some "new sound" comes out, the radio is flooded with other bands that sound just like it. Think about the "Seattle Sound" that came out in the 90s; SubPop (a small indie label) had already found huge success with Nirvana and such; big labels like geffen came in and scooped up every grunge band they could find. Pretty soon we were hearing shit like 7 mary 3 and Creed. Pretty soon you couldn't turn on the radio without hearing some whiny, heartfelt voice bleating out their personal problems over a pawnshop guitar doing three chords through a fuzz pedal. Hey, Pearl Jam is fine, but do we really need to hear every fucking band that sounds like them? I mean its not art, its formula; fuzz pedal + flannel + gravelly whine = airplay. Record labels are NOT fountains of artistic merit, they are the Down Syndrome of music and must be destroyed!
Well that last bit was a fun rant Ah, where was I? oh yeah:
The Internet:
yes, the internet itself is also under attack, or more specifically, the ISP's (Internet Service Providers) Maybe you've heard about wardriving? Its the practice of driving around looking for free wireless network connections. The link to wiki there will tell you more, (like "ethics") but you may not need to even leave your house to find a good wifi network to tap into. I mean why pay $50 a month to time warner when you can get a connection to the internet free (because its not as fast--yet) the city of New Orleans set up a FREE wireless internet system over the whole damn city in the aftermath of Katrina, so its citizens would have a vital communications link after some hurricane/flood dealie wiped out land lines and such all over town. What a great idea! Now everybody gets free internet! Gee, why don't they do that just everywhere? Well, because the Internet Service Providers who want you to PAY for their service are fighting against it, in court. Otherwise we'd probably all have free internet. Yes, there are service providers out there who really want to give it to you for FREE, but the government won't let them. Important rule of the internet: Whatever one company wants you to pay for, someone else will give away free. which brings us to:
Software:
My favorite is webattack.com Well, now its called SnapFiles or something gay, but either way. Sure, you can pirate software just like anything else on the web, but hell, these guys are GIVING it away. Its kind of a theme on the internet; the FREE exchange of information and data. Should you really give the richest man alive a hundred bucks or so for windows xp, when Linux actually works BETTER? I guess you'll just have to until Bill Gates lets go of his monopoly and major software developers start porting everything to Linux (which is still more stable, and far less succeptable to viruses (virii?) but hey, keep throwing your money away on a product that routinely screws you over, unless you want to join the fight. OR just make the best compromise and pirate windows. I've heard its like a $25,000 fine for every pirate version of windows they find on you, but until homeland security takes ALL your rights away, they've got no way to check without a warrant. Just don't download any child porn or anything. Really though, nearly every overpriced microsoft product i can think of has a competitor in the freeware realm, and most of the freeware actually works better. I have no idea why. All I know is that I'll take Firefox over MSIE any day. Hell, even Opera seems better. The point is, again, whatever someone wants to charge you for, someone else will give away free, pirates or not.
So, The internet is changing EVERYTHING. Not just music, or movie releases; but the fundamental economical systems behind ALL forms communication on this planet. Basically, if it can be broken down into ones and zeroes, its not financially sound anymore. I haven't got much else to say right now, (its late, im tired of typing) except that, the basic financial system of this world is going to change, radically; and there will be alot of casualties. In this war, we have a chance to finally topple evil regimes, or submit to them even further. We must seize power while we still can! They've got the funds, we've got the numbers. And in a world where the product is given away freely, money means nothing. All we have to do for now is keep it free, and freely moving. Keep producing the data, be it music, or movies, cartoons, games, programs, art, whatever; and make damn sure everyone gets it. |
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1){kind=small}
amishrobots's journal
