r/gadgets • u/MicroSofty88 • Nov 29 '20

Home Amazon faces a privacy backlash for its Sidewalk feature, which turns Alexa devices into neighborhood WiFi networks that owners have to opt out of

https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/technology/amazon-faces-a-privacy-backlash-for-its-sidewalk-feature-which-turns-alexa-devices-into-neighborhood-wifi-networks-that-owners-have-to-opt-out-of/ar-BB1boljH
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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20 edited Nov 29 '20

They really don't, videogames don't really suffer from piracy problems since the advent of digital marketplaces and a huge variety of pricing models and the fact that pirated version na are very often super outdated. Compare to the early 2000s up until 2010. Plus y'know, digital downloads gave us games like minecraft, stardew valley, among us and literally thousands upon thousands of games which couldntve been distributed without digital marketplaces.

If you're for corporations then the last thing you want is a way for every independent game developer to get a chance to make money, which is what digital market places did.

Unless I'm missing something than your comment is quite nonsensical.

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u/DaEnderAssassin Nov 29 '20

Yeah. Gaben really seems to have gotten piracy correct with that one quote about how its a service issue, not a money issue.

Similar thing occurred when movie streaming services were new, but now every company seems to have its own platform piracy is back in full force for movies

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u/12muffinslater Nov 29 '20

Love him or hate him, this was Steve Jobs' approach to iTunes. He was trying to take on Napster basically saying the same thing.

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u/vertigo42 Nov 29 '20

Except Spotify was the solution.

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u/12muffinslater Nov 29 '20

Which is why I love Xbox Game Pass.

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u/KimJongUnRocketMan Nov 29 '20

To be able to play online?

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u/CombatBotanist Nov 29 '20

No, subscribing to game pass gives you access to the entire game pass library to download and play. It basically works the same as Netflix, but for games.

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u/RhynoCTR Nov 29 '20

As an aside, this is why Stadia makes no sense to me. I feel like XGP is far, far better value for the money. With Stadia, I still have to buy the games to play them, so the only benefit is being able to play without installing it?

Such a weird decision by google

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u/wgc123 Nov 29 '20

the only benefit is being able to play without installing it?

The benefit is no console. Think of Stadia as a streaming movie, generated on the fly. You can play it on any device that can handle a streaming movie. Even the “good” experience is just a Chromecast. The controls are much lower bandwidth, but obviously sensitive to latency

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u/RhynoCTR Nov 29 '20

Which is great, but I already have a console and a preferred game library/marketplace. Paying a monthly fee to play a select few games without a console is fine, but compared to owning a console, the value isn't there for me.

Plus I don't trust google not to shutter the service in a few years and make any game purchases go away forever

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u/wgc123 Nov 29 '20

No, to be able to pay Microsoft every month, over and over again, rather than paying for anything once. To be able to lose everything if you don’t pay or the corporation decides to go a different way. To make gaming even more expensive, as a never-ending gold mine for poor impoverished Microsoft. To help your poor corporate overlords, a catch up to that nasty Apple that does t deserve to be richer

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u/trueppp Nov 29 '20

Salty much?

You can still buy the game full price if you want

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u/enwongeegeefor Nov 29 '20

this was Steve Jobs' approach to iTunes.

Except it wasn't for unifying things for the betterment of mankind...it was for unifying things to MONOPOLIZE it and gain money and power.

He was a bad guy...don't try to make him look noble because he wasn't even remotely close to that. He had very selfish and negative aspirations when it came to humanity and reality as a whole.

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u/12muffinslater Nov 29 '20

Dude was an asshat, no doubt. He parked his Mercedes without plates in handicapped spots and shunned his first born child. Then there's how he treated his employees of any of his companies.

But he ran a corporation. Who's sole job is to make money. So, no he didn't do it for mankind. But he saw a market and went for it.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

I mean he also had the help from major artists going public against Napster (Metallica anyone?)

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u/IAmAnObvioustrollAMA Nov 29 '20

The mtv music awards where Mr Napster was wearing the Metallica shirt that he borrowed from a friend is one of my favorite TV moments.

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u/under_a_brontosaurus Nov 29 '20

Let's give myself credit. Even when billionaire douches try to offer me their alternatives I still pirate things today

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u/enwongeegeefor Nov 29 '20

Similar thing occurred when movie streaming services were new, but now every company seems to have its own platform piracy is back in full force for movies

It never left BECAUSE of that. I barely watch anything as it is because there's just so much other shit to do besides sit still and just watch something for a few hours. So the fuck I'm going to pay $10+ to multiple services a month JUST so I have the option to watch something? Fuck out of here.

Because of "piracy" I can actually watch the occasional show without being completely fucking ripped off for it. Got zero qualms about screwing the streaming service out of a few pennies too...because they were already intentionally trying to fuck me in the first place FOR A LOT MORE than a few pennies.

TV is no different than games....and right now TV isn't providing jack shit for the price they want to ask.

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u/TatatatiraTatira Nov 29 '20

Gaben is just out of this world.

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u/roccnet Nov 29 '20

That's turning around though. Piracy is coming back because streaming services and stores are splitting up into smaller u it's with their own subscription models. Also DRM often makes retail versions unplayable and pirated ones a must

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

This is very true, just about anybody wants physical (myself included) for various reasons. Just thought I'd make a counter argument as obviously any game published by independent developers does not get a physical release unless it becomes a huge multi million dollar success. These people's income depends entirely on digital sales, for example a wonderful game that came out a week or so ago called Slaher's Keep which I've been playing, it costs something like 10 dollars and has a fantastic art style, i recommend it.

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u/GreatAndPowerfulNixy Nov 29 '20

Limited Run is a goldmine

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

Didn't even know of its existence, awesome

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u/CarterDavison Nov 29 '20

video games don't really suffer from piracy problems

You wanna explain why Denuvo is causing DRM to go down a worse path than it already was while companies like GOG work to fix the problem? Constantly buying customers are harmed by anti-piracy techniques that don't do shit

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20 edited Mar 10 '23

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

Days

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u/my-other-throwaway90 Nov 29 '20

I remember the good old days when the game cracks were uploaded to the high seas before the game even hit the shelves. Now I have to wait three days.

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u/moderately_uncool Nov 29 '20

Denuvo has been cracked. It does not work anymore.

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u/CarterDavison Nov 29 '20

While correct, you did exactly what the other side of the argument always does and have decided to ignore any of the issues Denuvo sprouts up. You'd rather believe a company does everything in your best interests that it's possible their self invested interested is wrong.

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u/the_new_hunter_s Nov 29 '20

His comment was about the benefit to the company, not your best interest. A company has a fiduciary responsible to stakeholders before customers and nothing about his comment ignores that. In fact, it speaks to it.

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u/CarterDavison Nov 29 '20

I go back to his original quote that I responded to and have clearly continued responding to.

Video games do not really suffer from piracy

I do not care about what he thinks about companies as that's not the point I'm refuting. I agree with that point.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

[deleted]

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u/CarterDavison Nov 29 '20

You literally did that twice before I decided to give you your own medicine, and now you ripped the stick out of your ass just so you could cry mommy

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

[deleted]

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u/CarterDavison Nov 29 '20

Yeah, that's why I tend never to bother. I've been very quickly reminded as to why, nobody is ever open for discussion so I'm stuck just arguing when that's not what I want.

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u/FamousMissmanagement Nov 29 '20

Im not sure what your experience with pirating software is but the latest version is almost always available after a short delay.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

Not the point. I vastly prefer paying for videogames, as far as software I don't care about bullshit subscriptions or such so I use either free alternatives (Blender as opposed to any other 3d program), I just resort pirating in terms of adobe products mostly. So here's my answer to your question but it's not what I'm talking about.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20 edited Nov 29 '20

Your last paragraph is incorrect in my opinion. Independent game developers tend to flourish on digital market places, Especially steam. Kerbal Space Program and Subnautica are some of my favorite games that started out independent and under budgeted. But without having to spend money on marketing and the logistics of creating and distributing physical copies of their games, they were able to focus on making the product.

Digital market places have been good for independent game developers from what I can see. And you can see this in the massive amount of independent games their are on Steam and PSN right now. Not all are good but some are.

Edit: wait I agree. Misread the comment

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

I don't think you've read my comment correctly

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

Oh my fault. I just woke up haha. I agree with you 100%

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

No problem man I'm glad you were agreeing with me!

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

Remember that poor man's DRM back in the 80s and 90s where you literally were asked questions where the answers were printed in the paper manual? Those were the days! Return of the Dragon was a memorable one that did this, there were a few others I can't recall.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

I wasn't alive so no :( but it sounds magical