Just read an interesting article emailed by a friend; it’s in the latest issue of Vanity Fair. Copyright and inclination prevent me from posting the PDF here, however.

The article was by a gent called “Michael Wolff” and the article: Generals Gadgets and Guerrillas. Not sure why they spelled it with two “r”s, I’ve always thought it was one.

Anyway…

It was a standard “People with gadgets are thieves” article, with some interesting sidelines into Google Phone territory.

I think in some ways he missed that gadgets have been around a long time, and the content companies screamed just as loudly when — for example — the VHS video machine was sold to the public, and tape-decks were out there.

Ultimately he gets the point in the end, which is that the content companies have a totally unsustainable business model and rather than fighting the gadgets, they need to embrace them as another way of getting their content out to the consumer.

The other point is that it’s mostly people who don’t have the funds to buy something that steal. 11 year olds breaking copy protection is really nothing new; I was breaking copy protection (albeit in the form of a 12 inch LP onto a tape) at that age, so was most of the western world. Course, once we had the money, we started buying our music and videos and all the rest of it, because it’s nice to have the box, the sleeve, the cover and all the extra bits that come with something bought. It’s also such a pain in the arse to hunt around for something to pinch. That’s what disposable income is for, after all!

The only issue here is that it would have been nigh impossible to measure this “illegal” activity back in the 60s, 70’s and 80’s. Now the companies can, they’re screaming like cut pigs.

I really welcome the day these monstrous organisations finally stop fighting the tar-pits they’re caught in and finally sink beneath the surface and die. It’s about time the creators of the content had some control. And that’s already begun, with some of the writers involved in the writers strike in the US going independent on Youtube and other mediums, and shows like Bablyon 5 selling straight-to-DVD shows, completely subverting the whole studio structures.

In the end, all the studios really do is transmit. Money to produce something can come from any number of avenues.

I am a geek. A hardcore Geek.

The principal is simple: My cat gets a little EM jigger (The scientific term) for her collar. The cat flap opens for her and not for any other cat.

There’s another cat that jumps down into the yard, and I don’t want him getting into the house and spraying the place; nor do I want him eating my cat’s food.

Short of staying home, with broom at-the-ready, this was the next best thing!