A dose of common sense
4/10/2009 2:23:33 PM
Posted by:Dave
Early warning: this is basically a list of companies who are doing absolutely stupid things, and are only being kept alive by people stupid enough to buy the crap. For just one post, I’m going to assume that people actually have the intellectual capacity to think for themselves and not assume that the Apple logo makes something good.
Time Warner
Here’s a good start. Time Warner wants to charge $55 per month for internet service, and give you a 40GB bandwidth cap [source]. Now, I’m fully aware that I’m not part of the “normal user” group, but let’s be serious for a minute. My daily life would burn through 40GB per month, without me even trying. And this is supposedly their “high-end” tier. 15MB/s downstream, 40GB cap. I have a few gripes with Comcast, but just for the sake of comparison - $20/month introductory price for a 15MB/s downstream, 250GB cap. Ongoing price is $43/month. Now, maybe I’m missing something, but doesn’t it seem like TW is just plain ripping people off? What about Verizon FiOS? $55/month for 20MB/s downstream, and as far as I’m aware, Verizon doesn’t have a bandwidth cap. So tell me something – why do people still use Time Warner? Oh wait a sec… they did fix part of the problem, though. They added a higher tier that removes the bandwidth cap! …….for another $150. Sorry, but that’s just plain dumb. Comcast was fighting a losing battle until they upped and doubled everybody’s speed for no cost. Now TW is at the bottom. Come on, people – five minutes of looking around will show how much of a ripoff Time Warner is. If you have a choice, and you still choose them, then maybe you need to make yourself a sign.
Nintendo
This is just plain silly. The world is in a little economic recession right now, yet Nintendo refuses to lower their prices, despite slowing sales [source]. What the heck? Nintendo has always been known for the low-cost consoles that continue to get less expensive with time. GameCubes are selling for $30 right now. So why is it that even in the full awareness of this recession, they refuse to lower prices? Who knows? But I will say this: when Sony is outselling Nintendo in Japan, something’s wrong. Some might point at sales stats and say “But the Wii still has the top 5 most played games of 2008! People are still buying, so why lower prices?” Skewed stats. Nintendo likes to bundle games, and Wii Fit and Wii Sports are two of the top-selling games of 2008… except they aren’t. They’re bundled with the Wii and accessories, so there’s a very good chance that lots of people got a Wii for a completely different game, never play Fit or Sports, and got counted as sales anyway. This is one reason why game sales are not a good indicator of success or strength of the system. Lower prices on the system, and they might actually get even more sales, which we all know is what money-grubbing CEO’s want.
Atari
The Chronicles of Riddic: Assault on Dark Athena – DRM. Really? Haven’t we already been through this with several other companies? [source] Three-install limit, which is the same rule that earned Spore a 1-star rating on Amazon and marked it as the most-pirated game of 2008. But wait, this doesn’t count multiple installs on one system as multiple activations, unless you change major hardware or reinstall the operating system, so it’s better. Right? No. It isn’t. It’s an install limit, and in the hands of a geek, it will become very annoying, very quickly. Again, I’m aware that I’m in the minority here, but I do hardware upgrades every few months, and operating system reinstalls more often than that. So for me, the game would be operational for half a year, max. Then I get to deal with their support and convince them that I legitimately need more activations. Yeah, screw that. Why deal with crappy DRM and support when in about a minute, I can have a DRM-free version downloading? THIS is one huge reason why piracy continues. People don’t want to pay $60 to rent a game, which is effectively what DRM forces them to do. For $60, you own that disc and everything it’s capable of, namely, INSTALLING.
Bank of America
Oh, we just have an endless supply of things to be mad at you about, don’t we? Now they’re going to increase interest rates on about 4 million card carriers who have a balance [source]. Taking the current recession into consideration, would someone care to explain how the hell they decided this was a good idea? As if they aren’t filthy rich enough, let’s try to steal even more money from people who can’t afford it! Will the bullsh*t ever end? Listen up, Feds: THE BANKING SYSTEM IS BROKEN. You’re rewarding the people who destroyed this country, then wondering why the whole country is pissed off at you. The government is claiming it can stimulate the economy by feeding the top 1% of the population even more money… haven’t we learned over the past 8 years that trickle-down economics DOES NOT WORK? A small quote from a rather interesting article:
“The great prosperity of the ’50’s came not from wealthy financiers making money out of sows’ ears, but about a working class that could afford that vital Disposable Income.” – The Seminal [source]
Get it yet? Feed the rich, and the rich get richer and fatter, while the rest of us get poorer and skinnier. Yep, you’re doing a wonderful job of revitalizing our economy. Cut the crap. The current system is a failure, and we’ve proven it repeatedly. Why are we still pretending it works? Because the rich are still making money from it. As long as they make money, they’ll continue to control the country, and life won’t get any easier for those of us who actually have to work for a living. Do you really want to fix this country? Then get rid of about 70% of the government, disband the Federal Reserve, and put down a flat tax rate across ALL income levels, and throw the bastards who find ways to dodge taxes in jail with no bail. I think that’s fair. They make more money in a day than most of us do in a year, and they don’t want to pay taxes on it. To claim that they can’t afford it is pure bull, and we all know it. If a guy like me can survive on $38k per year and STILL pay my taxes, then some rich guy who makes $5 million per year can certainly afford it. It’s pure bull, and something needs to be done about it. The country simply WILL NOT get any better, as long as the rich can do whatever they please.
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