Am I wrong in thinking this?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Buddy, if you have no internet access for months:

• You likely also don't have power
• You have bigger problems than watching DVDs while feeling superior

Been there done that.

1- Generator came through like a champ.
2- No broadband but you can do a lot through phone hotspot. Hint: you can choose display (and streaming) resolution. Pre-downloaded files help, too.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Quoth

It's purely a marketing decision. Not technology.

Not marketing, management.
That it boosted Kindle to the top was proof it was *necessary* to conoete with Kindle and Nook.

Competitors chose not to use the available technology and Amazon did.
Amazon wrapped up the lions share of the market, competitors didn't.
The wireless ereader tech was available and *necessary* (as proven by sales) either by licensing or rolling their own.

Amazon didn't expect anybody to take their offer; it was just antitrust insurance to firestall whining from the smaller players who couldn't afford to roll their own. And in those days there were lots of very small players.

Just because the basic technology is free doesn't mean it can't be cheaper to license a proven *implementation*.

There's lots of technologies being licensed not because of exclusivity but because its cheaper to license than going to the trouble of implementing an inhouse implementation. You see it all the time; the buy or build conundrum.

If you look at the credits of any major video game you'll see the logos of maybe a halfdozen products for Physics engines, rendering engines, audio, etc. These are massive companies with thousands of programmers, they clearly have the inhouse talent to create their own tools. But it is cheaper to pay for Havoc or Unreal or Atmos and put the inhouse staff to work on the primary product.

Management business choices, not technology choices.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I'm in the situation you describe. Our internet went out Saturday afternoon and won't be back up until the Comcast guy arrives tomorrow afternoon (if I'm lucky).

So yeah, I have a large collection of DVDs and blu-ray. But alas! My Samsung fell victim to the blu-ray boot loop apocalypse.

Meanwhile I've turned my phone into a hot spot and we're watching Peter Pan on Disney+

Don't feel too smug because of your physical media.

And also:



Buddy, if you have no internet access for months:

• You likely also don't have power
• You have bigger problems than watching DVDs while feeling superior

Hum, odd about the Samsung blu-ray issue. I have a Samsung 4K disk player and haven't had any issues. I've also got a Sony 4K disk player that's still in the box as a back up. As I said, I'm a belt and suspenders sort of guy who likes to have backups. Blu-ray/4K players are falling towards that commodity price point.

I've been known to use my phone as a wifi hotspot when Comcast is down as well. It works, though

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

I've been known to use my phone as a wifi hotspot when Comcast is down as well. It works, though

It worked, but not for my work. I'm on a bit of an enforced day off. Apparently my hotsport and work's VPN didn't play well together. Things slowed to a crawl. Yet I'm fine on my Surface and as mentioned, we streamed a movie last night.

I work for a major shipping company that was taken offline a few years ago when that Russian malware attack on the Ukraine went out of control. So my company is a bit extra cautious now.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Been there done that.

1- Generator came through like a champ.
2- No broadband but you can do a lot through phone hotspot. Hint: you can choose display (and streaming) resolution. Pre-downloaded files help, too.

Yeah, when I read a post like #51, I know that person thinks they are going to be like Neville in I Am Legend (or Charlton Heston in The Omega Man, if you aren't familiar with the book), barricaded from the chaos outside with your fine liquors and old media.

But when I hear that argument, I always think of Burgess Meredith:

[theducks]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Buddy, if you have no internet access for months:

• You likely also don't have power
• You have bigger problems than watching DVDs while feeling superior

You may just be in an (currently) isolated pocket. I was raised where winter storms took out power for days. We had backup provisions, a small generator that we could alternately run the water pump, furnace , refrigerator. Comfortable, but not our usual. (BTW the worst outage was just under 24Hrs, but the street behind us was out 3 days. I still follow the 6P's (I did not need to rush out for TP , when Covid19 hit. I had food, even if I did get bored with it)
The last major power outage (112hrs), the Cell towers were mostly down after a few hours. My landline (and DSL) still worked (My router was on a UPS that I cycled)

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Yeah, when I read a post like #51, I know that person thinks they are going to be like Neville in I Am Legend (or Charlton Heston in The Omega Man, if you aren't familiar with the book), barricaded from the chaos outside with your fine liquors and old media.

But when I hear that argument, I always think of Burgess Meredith:

I've got a generator as well. I really just have it to keep the freezer and a fan going on those days where power goes out for a few hours or even a day. I'm not really planning for the zombie apocalypse per se, otherwise I wouldn't be living in the major city of Atlanta, but I have had power outages and I have had internet outages. All it takes is a nice ice storm or a tornado.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

It worked, but not for my work. I'm on a bit of an enforced day off. Apparently my hotsport and work's VPN didn't play well together. Things slowed to a crawl. Yet I'm fine on my Surface and as mentioned, we streamed a movie last night.

I work for a major shipping company that was taken offline a few years ago when that Russian malware attack on the Ukraine went out of control. So my company is a bit extra cautious now.

I've done VPN over a wifi hotspot before, but that was a true hotspot, not a smart phone working as a hotspot.

[ElspethB]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Buddy, if you have no internet access for months:

• You likely also don't have power
• You have bigger problems than watching DVDs while feeling superior

When Hurricane Sandy hit, our power was out for 24 hours but our Comcast internet and cable was out for more than a week. We were very glad of our DVD collection (and I was glad about all the books already on my Kindle).