A Flemm Blog

Flipboard

2010-07-26T20:16:00.000-04:00

Check out this video. It makes me want an iPad so much more.

Looks way better than actually going through tweets and status updates and clicking links. A magazine of everything your friends are linking. Awesome.

Apple Trolls 3.0

2010-07-26T05:00:00.001-04:00

This edition of Apple Trolls is going to be a little different. I wrote a post a little while ago called 'Internet People' in which I pointed out how Apple Trolls down-rank any comment that says something positive about Apple. The example I showed in that post was a pretty good representation. What I've done here is go through the first page of comments on an Engadget post titled 'Consumer Reports confirms iPhone 4 antenna problems -- and so do we' and taken screenshots of every comment which has been 'down-ranked into oblivion'

See if you can spot what they all have in common:

Keep in mind that there are a bunch of comments in between these, but these are all of the 'down-ranked to oblivion' comments on the first page.

If any commenter dares say one positive thing about Apple of the iPhone 4, or even downplays the iPhone 4 antenna issue, they get voted down to oblivion.

Since this is an Apple Trolls post, I was going to add the highest ranked comments, but it turns out that EVERY single comment that wasn't 'down-ranked into oblivion' for being pro-apple is highest ranked. You've got to go there and see it for yourself. It's an Apple Troll's paradise.

These Apple Trolls saw a post on a phone they don't have, read it (maybe) and proceeded to vote up any comment which bashed the iPhone and vote down any comment which cast it in a positive light. The internet is an interesting place.

Do Your Research

2010-07-25T13:13:00.001-04:00

Read this the other day: 'Mobile Employees, Consultants Need Mobile WiFi Hotspots'.

His points are these:
When he goes to other companies with his laptop, he needs internet access.
Most companies won't give him access to their WiFi.
Therefore he needs to tether to a phone.

Up to this point he's making perfect sense, but it's about to get weird

He can't use an iPhone
No travelling businessman can use an iPhone

Uh ... THE iPHONE CAN TETHER!

The iPhone has been capable of tethering for over a year. It doesn't do it over WiFi, but it's perfectly capable of tethering over USB or Bluetooth. Get your facts straight.

He finishes with:

So Apple, if you want to be considered as a real corporate solution, you have to bring this functionality soon, or you're not even an option.

How are so many people so confused?

You Want What?

2010-07-24T10:56:00.001-04:00

Below is a comment from an Engadget Post titled: 'HP Slate no longer a consumer product, will arrive for enterprise this fall'

PC games are played with a keyboard and a mouse! How the hell does this idiot want to play PC games on a tablet? If he plugs a keyboard and mouse into the thing, why the hell did he buy a tablet?!

Also, he's disappointed that the iPad won't have the competition of a Windows tablet? Windows tablets are not competition to the iPad. A WebOS tablet is.

I'll say it again. Desktop OS's are designed to be controlled by the precision of a pixel at the end of a left-facing arrow. You cannot achieve this precision with touch. Even with a stylus, it's a pain. Mobile OS's are designed to be controlled by the precision of a finger. For that reason, they are perfect for a tablet you want to control with your finger.

A tablet running Windows (XP, Vista or 7) or Mac OS (X or otherwise) will not succeed. Anybody who says they want a Windows 7 tablet doesn't actually want a Windows 7 tablet. They actually want this:

A giant hunk of plastic they can do their POWER blog-trolling on. Because everyone knows you need 3GHz, 6 GB ram, liquid cooling, and a completely customizable OS to browse the web. And if you think you don't, you're just drinking the Apple Kool-Aid you stupid iSheep, Fanboy, technologically-inept moron.

**Disclaimer**

I am not calling the commenter shown above a troll.

Apple Trolls 2.0

2010-07-19T05:00:00.001-04:00

Welcome, friends, to another instalment of my 'Apple Trolls' series. I'm thinking of making this a regular series, with new Trolls posted every Monday. Thoughts?

Enjoy:

(Apple Hate)
Apple's slickster advertising vaneer is wearing thin, giving us a glimpse of its douchy crusty core.

What's inside that shiny box? Garbage.

Who's that man behind the curtain pulling all the levers and stealing candy from babies? The one and only greedy little turtle kneck wearing hipster doofus monkey boy.
(/Apple Hate)
:) Now my day is full of double rainbows.

Today's Apple Trolling is brought to you courtesy of 'Aneurism' in a post on Gizmodo titled 'Apple Censors Discussions On Negative Consumer Reports' iPhone 4 Test [Updated]'

Apple's in serious trouble ...

2010-07-17T12:19:00.000-04:00

I've seen a bunch of articles recently which show us all the reasons Apple is in serious trouble. At their press conference yesterday, someone asked if they would apologize to their shareholders. From the horrible implications of the iPhone 4's antenna, to the fact that they haven't released a major OS update in OVER TEN MONTHS! The writing's on the wall. It's time to accept it, and start dumping Apple shares. Here are some charts which back this up:

AAPL share price over last 5 years

AAPL Market cap over last 5 years

And if the financial proof isn't enough to convince you that Apple's done, let's talk about the less tangible aspects. Let's look at customer satisfaction:

Above is a comparison of customer satisfaction for some companies and industries with/in which Apple competes. It is clear from this graph that Apple's customers are not happy. I wouldn't count on any repeat purchases when making estimates about their future.

SELL SELL SELL!!

So, obviously I'm being facetious, but I just love the way technology bloggers foretell the end of Apple. They're morons. Regardless of what you may think of their products, they appear to be a pretty safe bet.

[Disclaimer: I didn't include Google in the customer satisfaction chart because their users are not their customers. Their users get everything for free, so they're perfectly happy (86% in 2009). Google's customers are the advertisers who give them money top put ads on search results.]

Over 5,000!!!

2010-07-14T10:35:00.001-04:00

On June 30th, A Flemm Blog had its 5,000th visitor. He/She was from the Netherlands. Welcome, weary traveller. Mr/Mrs. Netherlands came here for my post on Purepillz (I love that post).

Additionally, you are currently reading my 200th post. Exciting, eh?.

Android from the before-time

2010-07-13T12:27:00.001-04:00

This is funny. What you see below is what Google's Android OS was before the iPhone was released. Say/think what you will about iPhone and iOS, but if you are using a modern smartphone you owe most of the experience to Apple.

[Disclaimer: Before you start yelling at me, I am NOT accusing Google of stealing from Apple, and I'm not implying that every idea Apple has ever implemented has been their own. If that's what you got from this, I suggest you read it again.]

Apple Trolls 1.0

2010-07-12T16:02:00.001-04:00

Today, I bring you the first in a new series: Apple Trolls. This is where we scour the internet for anti-Apple rants and post them on the internet ... wait ... whatever, I think they're funny, so I'm going to do it.

oh, so the I-pad is back, just a few points

its keyboard is too small for both hands, but too big for just using your thumbs. so anyone that can use a real keyboard properly, will want it to burn in hell.

No Flash player on first releases... ummm... thats an interesting feature to leave off something thats primary usage is for looking at things on the web.

"no right way [up]" as advertised, its thats anything like the iphone, I will have to learn to love watching the blank screen, (cos it wont load the flash player things) upside down, or according to the advert at 90 degrees. Whislt I have learnt to read upside down over the years, (allways good for reading your bosses notes) 90 degrees will take a user upgrade...

Apple suck at user support.

Apple suck at user support. On the list twice coz its that important.

Its actually thin enough for me to loose. thats an interesting feature thats not advertised. I could put it down with a pile of papers, and never find it again. OK so I could tidy my desk a little, but then Id never find the stuff i wasnt looking for but needed.

Its to big to hold in my hands and use continually, but not quite big enough or at the right angle to sit on my lap

I have NEVER typed on something that has the keyboard at the same angle as the screen. as any "hard core" user will tell you, actually typing on the screen is going to become uncomfortable for all but the shortest of sentences.

great it has apps, still cant use it as a lap top though. how am i going to do any serious gaming or get any real utility from it.

Its great at surfing the net, or displaying pictures etc. so its basically a digital photo frame that can download !$%*!$%

personally i will stick with the old laptop thingy. I can use it for the internet AND otherthings like typing in Scotts blog comments.

Apple have again reinvented the wheel and no-one has noticed its square, with a missing side. great!

This piece of literary genius comes to us courtesy of 'god save England' in response to a post by Scott Adams titled 'The Amazingness of Instant'.

How much poop do you Google?

2010-07-08T09:23:00.000-04:00

I guess other people just have more poop to google than me. Who are these people??

On iPhone 4 Antenna

2010-07-05T05:00:00.031-04:00

Dear Internet;

Shut up!

Sincerely,
A. P. Flemming

P.S.

When you cover an antenna with your hand, signal strength is decreased. If you have weak signal to begin with, your transmission speed will take a pretty serious hit. #FactOfLife

In certain buildings at my school I receive pretty weak signal on my iPhone 3G. I assume my signal here is similar to AT&T's in the US. Below is a speed test I ran while pinching the phone from the sides, keeping my hand as far away from the antenna as possible:

Weak starting signal, best case

This next one is a speed test I ran while gripping the phone with my right hand at the bottom of the phone:

Weak starting signal, worst case

That's what happens when you put your hand over an antenna!

Yes. With iPhone 4 the problem is exacerbated by having the antenna on the outside of the phone, but the placement of the antenna allows for better reception. So, when you cover the antenna with your hand and lower the signal, you're lowering it from a higher starting point. Get it?

To further demonstrate this, I followed the same procedure at my apartment, where I get a nice strong signal. As you can see below, my download speed halved when holding the phone where the antenna is.

Strong starting signal, best case

Strong starting signal, worst case

So, back to my original point: Shut up.

It's a Race!

2010-07-03T13:51:00.002-04:00

Ugly Browsers

2010-07-03T05:00:00.001-04:00

I made a comment in a recent post about browsers other than Safari being ugly. Here are the man navigation, tab, and bookmarks bars for Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and IE:

Safari

Chrome

Firefox

Internet Explorer

Now, it goes without saying that IE is hideous, but why must Chrome and Firefox be so ugly?

Look at the bookmark bar in Chrome. Those blue folders and white pages are disgusting. Also, while using Chrome, I can't help but feel like I'm using a Windows app. Everything about it feels like it's meant to be run in Windows - which it is. Direct ports that don't modify the UI to match the system don't feel right. Not a fan.

Firefox feels like it's mostly made of wasted space. And with everything looking so round and bubbly, it looks a decade old:

Netscape Navigator

Here's the

Internet People

2010-07-02T09:46:00.000-04:00

The internet can be such an annoying place. Case and point:

The Article
What you're seeing above is a screenshot of come comments on Engadget. The comments are in response to an article about Apple issuing a software update to correct the way 'bars' are displayed on iPhone. This update addresses issues where iPhone 4 users have been able to drop four 'bars' by holding their phone in the bottom left corner. What Apple says is that they were displaying too many bars in the first place.

Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong. Our formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength. For example, we sometimes display 4 bars when we should be displaying as few as 2 bars.

When iPhone 4 users had dropped a bunch of bars, it was often because they were in a very weak signal area to begin with.

Users observing a drop of several bars when they grip their iPhone in a certain way are most likely in an area with very weak signal strength, but they don't know it because we are erroneously displaying 4 or 5 bars. Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place.

To me, that makes perfect sense. People should have two 'bars', but they're being shown four. They then drop to 1 by putting their hand over the antenna, and it looks like they've had an huge drop, when in fact they only lost one bar by covering the antenna. Cover any antenna on any wireless device, and you lose signal strength. How can that be a surprise to people?!

The Response
Now that you have the back-story, check out the comments (click to enlarge if need-be). Look at the highest ranked, and the lowest ranked. I think the comment that has been 'down-ranked into oblivion' is an excellent point, and is the best of them all.

The people who are so outraged and offended by the iPhone 4 DON'T OWN AN iPHONE 4!

My Pain
I'm sorry for yelling, but the internet can be such an annoying place sometimes. A group of people have gotten together in this comment thread who all hate Apple and iPhone. They clicked on an article that was solely about Apple and iPhone. They then proceed to blabber on about nothing, regurgitating everything they've read on blogs written by other people who hate Apple and iPhone. Then, finally, someone makes a comment that makes sense so they 'down-rank it into oblivion'.

Internet people are The Worst.

Scroll Wheel Thief

2010-06-29T13:49:00.002-04:00

Simple math: Adobe® Flash® 10.1 + Safari 5 = DRIVINGMECRAZY!!

So, here's the deal. Adobe® Flash® has this great feature which allows Adobe® Flash® Apps to use scroll-wheel input. Great. So when I'm using some POS Adobe® Flash® App, I can scroll in it. What this means, however, is that when I'm scrolling in a web page and my cursor happens upon any sort of Adobe® Flash® object, the scroll-wheel gets trapped by Adobe® Flash®, and I'm unable to continue scrolling.

For example, take a look at this:

It's basically a big ball of Adobe® Flash®.

To scroll in this page, my cursor now must be within one of these red rectangles:

If the cursor falls within one of the Adobe® Flash® objects, scrolling gets stolen, and I sit there swiping/rolling with nothing happening.

Unacceptable. So, as a result, I've installed ClickToFlash which is a partial-solution. With ClickToFlash, Adobe® Flash® objects don't load unless you click on them. This is great for removing the problems with scrolling over things you don't care about, but once you do load the item, you're right back where you started.

Anyone who has a solution to this problem, let me know. And before you suggest it, I'm not downgrading Adobe® Flash®, and I'm not switching browsers. Adobe® Flash® 10.1 plugged a number of security holes, and other browsers are ugly.

-----------------------

Update:

This issue is not present at justin.tv, or a handful of other sites I've checked out. It is most definitely occurring with YouTube videos, and some ads. In fact, most places I try to reproduce the issue I cannot.

I'm now wondering if this is a deliberate act on the part of the creators of these Adobe® Flash® objects. If they want to make sure I can't scroll past their ads.

Content creation

2010-06-20T11:46:00.003-04:00

iPad haters of the world have a common argument: "sure, it's great for content consumption, but you can't create content with it".

They are wrong.

Keynote

I spent a while playing with one the other day, and the Keynote app (part of iWork) demonstrates how well iPad can facilitate content creation. Keynote on the Mac is a wonderful application. It kicks the shit out of PowerPoint, and when it's done pisses all over it. Anyone who has seen me give a presentation knows that in addition to its simplicity, it generates quality results.

When I get an iPad, I will likely create my presentation slides with Keynote iPad. It's awesome.

Want to move a text box? Move it.

Want to rotate an image? Rotate it.

Want to resize an object? Grab it and make it bigger.

Removing the layer of abstraction of the mouse and being allowed to interact directly with the objects on the screen makes the whole process of content creation & manipulation much simpler and more fun.

iMovie

If you haven't seen iMovie for iPhone 4, check it out. You edit your HD footage right on your phone. Not simple trimming, but real editing. Transitions, titles, soundtracks, real stuff. Thinking of what phones were just a few years ago

Fuck it. You don't care, anyway.

Thanks for sharing, Gizmodo commenter

2010-06-18T05:00:00.000-04:00

And I quote:

There's a reason Apple has the minority market share.

The same reason why Scientology is still a minority.

1) The haters are there, yes, and it's totally understandable. They feel threatened by a company trying to dictate what they may or may not do with their gadgets. They feel threatened by a company manipulating markets with hype (instead of good products), effectively destroying other, often better, technology made by other companies that would deserve to be hyped a lot more than Apple.
And of course they're fed up with Apple fanboys.
When people feel threatened by a cult, they become 'haters' and the Apple cult is no exception.

2) What Microsoft, Goole and the others have realized is that one company,as well as one ideology, can not serve everyone. Partnerships, openness, choice are just as important as good products.

3) Speaking of good products, Apple has stopped making them long ago. Where's the answer to Windows 7? Where is the answer to Android? Apple has fallen behind, because of their incredible arrogance. They can't keep up.

Wow. Just, Wow. The whole thing was pretty great, but point #3 just takes the cake. Wow.

Don't let yourself be pressured. Just do as I say.

2010-06-17T14:07:00.000-04:00

Too funny. Too funny. So funny, I had to say it twice.

By the way, this is on a bus (if you couldn't tell).

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Blog post

2010-06-16T07:47:00.002-04:00

I send you an email:

Subject: "This is a subject"
Body: "who cares?"

You reply:

Subject: "Re: This is a subject"
Body: "Still don't care"

I reply:

Subject: "Re: This is a subject"
Body: "This is important. Someone should care"

You reply:

Subject: "Re: Re: This is a subject"
Body: "Body."

You see what happened there? Your email client sucks! There should never be more than one "Re:". Any client worth it's salt should recognise that you're replying to a reply, and not include the redundant "Re:".

It seems basic, but I often end up with emails that have a subject line much like the title of this post. It really bugs me.

So. Solution: find a mail client that does its job. Everyone. Now.

Memories and Secrets

2010-06-15T05:00:00.000-04:00

***Disclaimer: You'll need Safari or Chrome to view this post properly. Why? Because IE doesn't support HTML5, and Firefox only supports wave and ogg audio formats, and I'm not going to convert my mp3 to wave***

I can't give you much back-story here, as I am bound to secrecy, but I have a song to share with you. Certain people including, but not limited to, Dan, Matt, Cary, Curtis, Joey, and Graham should be very interested in it. So without further adieu, I give you ... Everything Fades Away Before it Blooms - NSI:

Also:

"Hello, Emily. It's me ... Stephan. Surprised to hear me? Ya. I thought so ... Well, I just wanted to say hi, and I hope you like this CD".

Now I'm sure that's not quite a perfect quotation, but it's close.

I wish I could tell you more, but there would be serious consequences.

It's in the Details

2010-06-14T05:00:00.012-04:00

I was watching Voyager (Star Trek) today, and the writers pissed me off. I thought I'd tell you about it.

It was the end of the episode, Janeway and Chakotay were in the Captain's ready room doing a little wrap-up type thing. Right at the end, Neelix comes on the com saying: "Neelix to the ready room. The party's about to begin, and we're only missing two people".

Seems pretty standard, but why would Neelix contact the ready room? How did he know the Captian was in there? How did he know Chakotay was with her? It makes no sense. Sure, he could have asked the computer where they were, but why not just contact Janeway?

"Neelix to Captain Janeway. The party's ...".

How hard would that have been? I hate when Star Trek writers don't think.

Another Star Trek note, if the solution to every transporter problem is to 'narrow the confinement beam', why the hell don't they just keep them narrowed all the time?

Okay, I've got another example:

In the Next Generation episode with Scottie (and the Dyson sphere around a star), at the end for the Enterprise to escape from the sphere, Scottie and LaForge have to hold the main 'hatch' open with an old ship's shields. As the Enterprise is approaching, the old ship loses helm control, meaning it will have to be destroyed for Enterprise to escape. So once they're in transporter range, Picard orders the transporter room to energize. Two seconds later, he orders Worf to fire photon torpedos. They then narrowly escape through the hatch as it closes.

Firstly, you can't transport through shields. So when Picard said 'energize', they shouldn't have been transported.

Secondly, Picard does not wait for confirmation from the transporter room that the transport was successful. He just orders Worf to fire. If you have people on a ship that you're about to blow up, I should think you'd make sure the transport worked before blowing the shit out of it.

Thirdly, but this one's minor, they could have waited until they were much closer to the ship before blowing it up. The safety factor on the whole operation was very small.

Thoughts on Android

2010-06-13T05:00:00.004-04:00

Android is Google’s smartphone operating system. The internet is constantly talking about how much better it is than iOS (formerly iPhone OS), and how it’s going to dominate the iPhone. The current 'iPhone Killer'.

Without talking about the merits about the two devices, I’ll tell you why Android won’t kill the iPhone. Two words: iPod Touch. The iPod touch has a much lower barrier to entry than the iPhone, with no monthly fee. Android is only on phones. For this reason (among many others), iOS will attract more developers than Android. Take, for instance, CurlBook. While CurlBook is an iPhone App, it’s really an iPod Touch App. If the touch did not exist, I’d have sold 1, maybe 2 copies. It would never exist without a device that doesn’t force someone to replace their phone.

Now, I’m sure that Android will eventually be used on some iPod Touch rivals. But now you’re competing with the iPod - the undisputed champion of portable media. Once you’re in this arena, it won’t matter that Android and iOS are near feature parity. The Android machine won’t sell.

Because of the iPod Touch, iOS continue to be insanely popular, which means continued developer support, which means more/better iPhone Apps, which means more iPhone sales. It will not be ‘killed’.

(I don’t believe it would be killed without the iPod Touch, just that the iPod Touch means it can’t be.)

On the feature/experience side, while you may be able to do everything in Android, you can’t do it as pleasantly. That’s just a fact. The most basic example: scrolling. It’s simply not as nice on Android as iOS. There are tons of others, but scrolling, which is so basic, and so important to touch screen phones, really illustrates the difference.

MG Siegler has recently said:

“The Mac vs. PC debate has often found people using a car analogy to explain things. I keep coming back to that when thinking about iPhone vs. Android. For a long time, iPhone felt like a Lexus while Android was more like a Kia. With recent upgrades, Android has transformed into more of a Honda. But with iPhone 4, the iPhone is now an Aston Martin […].”

I love this quotation. While a Honda can do everything an Aston Martin can, there’s a difference. You notice it when you look at it, and you notice it when you drive it.

Now if you read THE INTERNET, you’re likely to believe that Android is slaughtering iOS in every way. That’s just not true. It’s a bunch of geeks who are writing these things, and geeks love spec sheets. Spec sheets don’t tell anywhere near the whole story. Geeks also love rapid change. Android has been playing massive catch-up for its entire existence, which has meant constant OS updates. iOS, on the other hand, has been on a consistent 1yr major upgrade cycle. The speed difference leads gadget blog geeks to love Android, and get bored with iOS. A final note on upgrades, the look of iOS has remain largely unchanged since 1.0, which is another reason gadget blog writers call it boring. Android, on the other hand, has been in major need of facelifts with every update. iOS’s lack of visual change merely shows how good it looked when it launched; Android’s constant modification only goes to show how crappy it looked when it launched (and how crappy large parts of it still look, for my money).

Now, I’m not saying that Android is going to die. On the contrary - I think it’s getting better with every revision, and every step it takes towards iOS is a step that forces Apple to continue to innovate, and that’s a good thing for me. All I am saying is that Android is no iPhone-killer. Regardless of how close it to iOS it comes in terms of features.

Quick Apology

2010-06-12T12:08:00.001-04:00

Reader;

I wanted to apologise for all of the Apple and Apple-related posts of late. If you didn't notice, I took a bit of a sabbatical from blogging recently, and in that time a lot of Apple-shit has happened. I just had to get a few things off of my chest in that regard. Don't worry, this hasn't become an all-Apple blog, things will return to normal soon.

Andrew

Adobe® Flash®

2010-06-12T05:00:00.000-04:00

The iPhone/iPad do not support Adobe® Flash®. You know this. Because of this, Adobe® is making a pretty big stink. I thought I’d put in my two cents.

Go somewhere and watch a 720p video played by an Adobe® Flash® player. YouTube has a bunch.

Okay, you back? Oh. Alright, I’ll give you another second to get back. You here now? Good. Let’s continue. I hope you're not using a laptop, because if you are, your legs are likely on fire by now. Why? Because Adobe® Flash® is a beast. Watching 20 seconds of SD video with Adobe® Flash® is enough to have the fans on my MacBook going full tilt.

Try out this video

As you saw at the link, it’s an HTML5 player. Notice anything? It played much better, didn’t it.

Because it’s such an awful technology, I don’t use Adobe® Flash® unless I absolutely have to. YouTube has an HTML5 player, so does Vimeo. They make my life noticeably better.

I just with the internet would stop complaining that Apple’s mobile devices don’t support Adobe® Flash®. It’s getting old. I don’t want to use Adobe® Flash® on my phone. If my modern notebook can barely handle it, it would be absolutely unbearable on a phone. If banner ads and porn are that important on your phone, grab an Android device (make sure it’s getting 2.2 soon though), and enjoy.

I’m sick of hearing that the iPhone/iPad are garbage, and the people who buy them are blinded by Apple fanaticism, because we can’t look at Adobe® Flash® banner ads and porn. We’re getting by, thank you very much. Leave us alone.

Canadian DMCA

2010-06-11T05:00:00.000-04:00

For those of you that don’t know, your government would like to make some new copyright law.

Here’s the process of a movie being ‘stolen’:

So a DVD is purchased, the file is ripped onto a hard drive, the file is uploaded, and then it is downloaded and shared by millions.

Our government is bowing to pressure from the Americans to make this process illegal, in hopes to stop piracy of movies. How are they doing this? Simple. By making each of the last three steps illegal. Ripping, uploading, and downloading.

While I understand making it illegal to upload/download copyright protected material without having purchased it, I take huge issue with the idea of ripping a DVD being illegal. (The law says ‘breaking a digital lock’. Every DVD is encrypted, and DVD rippers break this encryption. It will even be illegal to download software that will rip a DVD).

While there is no reason for uploading/downloading copyright protected material other than stealing, there is a valid reason to rip of a DVD. I have a computer, an Apple TV, and a smartphone. I also have a pretty solid DVD collection, all of them legally obtained. I want to watch my DVDs on a non-DVD player. Why in the hell is that illegal? Who am I hurting? I BOUGHT these movies. I should be able to watch them how I please.

There are definite, fair reasons for me to want to do this. For example, a laptop. Watching a film on a disk uses far more battery power than watching a film stored on a hard drive. Additionally, if I’m travelling, I don’t want to cary round 50 DVDs. It’s unnecessary, considering they can all be inside my computer (on my HDD) at once. Wanting to watch my films on my phone is not something my government should be trying to impede. It’s a legitimate desire, and should not be against the law.

So do I blame the film-downloaders of the world? Is it their fault that the government was forced to step in and put laws in place to protect the copyright material? NO. And I’ll tell you why: by making it illegal to upload and download the movies, P2P sharers are already breaking the law twice. The chain above has been broken in two places, there was no need to break the third link. Anyone who downloads copyright protected material has broken the law. Why do I have to be breaking the law by putting my movie on my computer?

You’ve screwed up, Government.