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Re: Then why not be happy?

Alright. Now I understand WHY you're OK with this whole thing. Let me give you my take on this.

"I apologize for getting the wrong impression from your previous posts. To my reading, they did not evidence the depth of knowledge that one should have acquired given your stated involvement in these issues over a long period of time. Good for you. You researched, you understood, you interacted and YOU LOST!"

That's an opinion, Austin, not a fact. Most consumers want products in their hands, not vaporware that they have to pay for again and again. The final chapter hasn't been written yet.

"CP is here, it's going to stay here and your options to avoid it are severely restricted both by statute and the marketplace. Your "fight to the last" stance is, you must admit, a bit Quixotic given the circumstances. Perhaps you can "borrow" a few tapes from your workplace from time to time to substitute for commercial content that you won't be buying in the future. Or take walks in the park and read books instead of viewing HDTV. Perhaps your return to nature will inspire other people to follow you - but not me."

CP may be here to stay, but the marketplace has yet to weigh in on the implementation of it. I think you misunderstand why I believe what I do. Don Quixote, I'm not. I'm talking about principles that go far beyond just the entertainment industry. I think I'll have plenty of options outside of "a few tapes". It's a shame that you compare LIVING life to just VIEWING it. I think you're missing out on a great deal.

"I'll be fully wired into the Matrix - on demand HD PPV and hirez PPL at locations and times of my choice! CP is the price I must pay - so be it."

Fair enough. I may choose to participate-or not. It depends on price, quality, selection, etc. But the key is I can live without it.

"As to my point of view, I guess you could call me a "rent" freak. We're not on this earth permanently so in the final analysis, all we can do is "rent", never own. That said, what you really want to "own" (call it a long-term lease ) are appreciating or income-producing assets. Financially speaking, it's a loser to put equity into depreciating (or obsoleting) assets. Much more efficient to determine an acceptable cost for ongoing use of the asset and budget for it as a recurring expense. This normalizes your budget and frees capital to invest in assets that make sense to "own"."

OK. I agree with this to a point, but I'm not convinced that owning 'depreciating' assets is always a bad choice, fiscally speaking. If you choose not to own your own car, home, or audio system you can't really tweak them to your liking. It's also very hard to establish a credit rating as a renter. Are you going to rent a HDTV? How about the digital front end of your audio system? What about a computer? These items are becoming obsolete at an increasing rate as technology moves faster and faster. But I don't see "Rent-a-Center" offering these things in the near future.

"When you own something, you're the one left to deal with its inevitable obsolescence. In terms of media content what happened to all the "equity" in the huge record and cassette collections we all had a few years ago? It's in the trash can, that's where. Thinking back, would you have rather owned these formats or simply rented the content? Keep in mind, the same original analog master tapes were used to source the same content in LP, cassette, CD and now DVD-Audio/SACD. Rebuying the same thing over and over again is the ultimate waste of resources."

Sentence one is true. However, I think a large group of vinyl enthusiasts would strongly disagree with your next few statements. How much music that came out on LP is still not available (and never will be) on CD? In keeping with your philosophy, aren't you really "Rebuying" the same thing again each time you rent it?

"Then there are the maintenance costs associated with ownership. You've got to have space to put the stuff, a system to index it all, mechanisms to replace broken items, etc. Then, if you want to use the item in more than one location, you've got to physically truck it around or even worse, buy a duplicate. Much more efficient to have a flexible distribution system."

True. But ALL distribution systems need an interface to connect to the outside world. Unless you're supporting Alpha Wave, direct- connect to the brain, you're going to need multiple interfaces.

"Finally, and most importantly, there's the time element associated with ownership. It takes time, lots of time, to build, maintain and distribute your own media collection. How long to add one additional CD or DVD to your collection? Research, get in the car, go to the store, stand in line, get back home, open the d*mn security wrappers, spin it, categorize it, index it, input it and store it. WHEW!"

This assumes that the outcome is the only important thing. How about the joy of the journey? You remind me of the science-fiction writers of the late '60's-early '70's, that thought we would have a pill for everything. Why do anything to have a real feeling or experience when you can pop a pill and avoid all of the risks? Kind of like the "Virtual Reality" freaks. No risk, but not real either.

"I consider time the most valuable and limited resource both in absolute and relative terms. I am more than willing to pay someone else for their time in setting up and maintaining a media distribution system that I can use whenever I want. The best part is it will end up saving me money as well!"

So you can use your time to do what? This is truly outcome based thinking. As far as saving you money, that will depend on how much the content providers charge you. Do you believe for an instant that as they become a monopoly that the price will stay static? Or do you beleive in government regulation? I don't like either option.

"Yes, I'm renting. No, I don't have "ownership" of the content. But neither do you when it's certainly going to be obsoleted in the future. Here's the biggie: by renting, I free large quanitities of time and financial resources to invest as I see fit on assets that generate a return to me. I can put dollars into nice HT furniture, lighting, artwork, investments, etc. rather than into depreciating content. I can INVEST in good quality audio amplification and speakers (low depreciation and obsolescence). I will minimise the EXPENSE of everchanging pre/pro, receiver and TV features. I'll buy a relatively cheap receiver or RPTV, expect it to last two or three years and consider it an ongoing EXPENSE. I will NOT spend $10,000 on a plasma or high-end pre/pro that will be obsoleted over the same period. When I feel that these big ticket items have reached a technology plateau where they will hold their value and currency, I WILL invest in them."

Good luck on this one. This is the biggest flaw in your argument. To truly enjoy your rented, hi-rez content, you'll need state-of-the-art gear. While SOME technologies will stay the same, MOST will not, even amps and speakers. Compare the best speaker from 10 years ago with what you can buy for half of its original cost today. Do you really beleive there will ever be a "technology plateau"? I think this is wishful thinking. If anything, obsolecence will increase in speed, not decline.

"Buy content? NEVER! Add up 400 DVDs at $15 each. That's $100/month for 5 years!! You'll be able to watch a different one every day for over a year. But then you've got to watch them all over again the next year and the next and so on. Do you really think 480p DVD will be around in 5 years? NetFlix has got it right except for the snail mail interface. On the other hand, if it was PPU at $1/viewing, I'm going to see over 1800 different movies in the same time for less money. And when HD-DVD content pops up, I'll be watching it - you'll be rebuying your 400 DVDs in the new HD format. We'll both be buying new TVs!"

I don't disagree with you here, especially when it comes to movies. I own very few DVD's, mostly because I'm very choosy. I'd rather rent most of them, and do. It will be YEARS before digital-only video is a reality, mostly because the enthusiasts that want HD have been early adopters of the present technology. HD is not for the masses at the present, and may never be.

If you want to base your life, Austin, on this theory you've stated, you're more than welcome to. But don't expect the rest of us to agree with it, or not object when it's trying to be forced on us. I think the fact I stated to you about not needing to have every new thing that comes down the pike is really quite freeing. I no longer feel addicted. I belong to "Audioholics Anonnymous".

Mike


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