I'm not your bro and I am going to taze you!
Frogblog: January 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008 by Frogboy | Discussion: WinCustomize News
The cliche "beauty in the eye of the beholder" is so overused but is so universal. A better phrase would be that value is in the eye of the beholder.
This past week, Apple updated the iPhone and the iPod Touch. Apple is charging existing users $19.95 to get some of the new features. Thus ensued a lot of bitching and moaning about the price.
Maybe it's because I'm a sick, scummy, evil capitalist who eats babies when I'm not on here flaming web hippies but what is it with non-producers constantly asserting that other people are greedy for not working for them for free. When I bought my iPod Touch (best purchase of 2007) I knew it didn't have email or map features. The Apple is letting me have these cool and extremely useful features for 20 bucks is great. (here's my quick review of it)
So what if new users don't have to pay the $20. They had to wait longer. If the iPod Touch were a video game, it would be priced at half the price it launched at by now. You don't hear people screaming that they had to pay $50 for their favorite game a year ago and now it's available for $30 at Best Buy do you?
That's one of my biggest peeves with the Internet. We now have an entire generation of web hippies that not only expect other people to work for them to be free but have the audacity to accuse those producing stuff of greed if they refuse to behave like proper slaves.
In an age where there are fewer and fewer people making stuff (skins, software, you name it) it strikes me as extremely ironic that anyone who doesn't make stuff thinks they're in any position to be demanding others work for free for them.
I can't make an email applet for my iPod. I'm glad Apple did. And I will happily trade $20 that I earned through my labor to those who produced it. When I can't produce something for myself, I don't mind paying those who can produce a thing I want if it's of value to me. If it's not worth it, I don't purchase it.
I see the same thing with skins too. Someone makes a cool skin and you inevitably have some people come out and crap on it. Last week on our tech partner site, Neowin, a user posted about Aero Executive (a new theme). Within minutes, users came on and started crapping on it. Now, a wood-textured version of Aero may not be for you but it's a good skin from a design perspective. But in the age of entitlement, the people who don't actually produce anything not only expect an unlimited right to insult those who do make stuff but become incredulous if called out for their criticism (i.e. they recognize their right to free speech but become amazingly intolerant of the right of others to defend themselves). It got so bad I had to close the thread.
So here's the deal: If you produce stuff then good for you. If you don't produce stuff, then you are either reliant on the good will of others to produce things for you or you will have to pay evil capitalists to labor on your behalf to produce the product, good, or service you want. And while you are free to criticize what others produce, so too are other people free to criticize you in return since, after all, criticism is a form of product too. 
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Reply #42 Friday, January 18, 2008 9:38 AM
But I don't see how Apple customers complaining about having to pay $20 for a software upgrade fits into that mold. The difference is that Apple had to do no work to get these apps for the iPod touch, because they were already in the iPhone which is the same device but with a cell radio.
It's not being an web hippie with an overdeveloped sense of entitlement to say "You hit copy and paste, and you seriously want me to pay $20 for that?"
Reply #43 Friday, January 18, 2008 9:47 AM
While I hate treads being locked, I'm surprized you didn't lock it sooner.
By page 3 I was bored to death reading the same silly comments.
Im hoping the age bracket at Neowin is under 16 - the comments sure sounded like children.
Moving right along ..
Reply #44 Friday, January 18, 2008 10:00 AM
Not true. The new map feature is based a triangulation of wifi site becons using the technology of two companies, Google and Skyhook Wireless and apple writes the front end software. This was not in the iPhone previously. There is an iPhone update that adds this new feature.
With thee addition of email as well, they have also made the device a lot more than an iPod. There is a great value added here.
Reply #45 Friday, January 18, 2008 10:13 AM
Reply #46 Friday, January 18, 2008 10:35 AM
Reply #49 Friday, January 18, 2008 11:02 AM
Reply #50 Friday, January 18, 2008 11:02 AM
With more and more of the masses being able to simply plug in a PC and blather their baloney all over the net. It was inevitable the trolling,instant gratification,gimme everything for free or we will steal it,trash talking members of society would wander in. Spouting their anti everything brain washed mentaility,as it is told to them by mass media.
Sad part is the majority follow subpop culture and believe that theft,abuse,greed makes them rebels,when actually it makes them mindless sheep. Why? For following the medias version of cool....Hollywood is playing them like suckers.. Mean while the followers go to jail,or worse, and the moguls orchestrating the whole culture go back to their Multi million $$ mansions and could gave a care less...
Just this Retards 2 cents worth..
Bravo Brad, your post was spot on..
Reply #51 Friday, January 18, 2008 11:23 AM
I going to wander over to Neowin and see I can find the post and read it. I can late, but alteast I can be informed.
Reply #52 Friday, January 18, 2008 11:25 AM
Yeah....I just went and read that thread and all I can say is...Wow!...that was the most pointless thread I've ever read and I'm glad it never gets to that point here on this site...but what do I know...I guess I'm one of the 50,000 retards.
That pretty much goes to the heart of why I say it is two different discussions.
Dealing with how some people manage their feelings around their relationships with various businesses isn't really something that's ever going to achieve anything tangible.
On the other hand, focussing again on how Wincustomize contributors could be further supported, to deal with inappropriate criticism, may be worthwhile and give this thread some value beyond that of the group hug.
Otherwise, although it's a heartfelt rant, it'd kind of suck to become just one bunch of posters, moaning about how another bunch of posters like to moan...
Reply #53 Friday, January 18, 2008 11:44 AM
People, you just got to love'em, although there are a few that would improve the enviroment by being busy with other things.
Reply #55 Friday, January 18, 2008 12:52 PM
I know this goes for practically every person here, you don't like every single skin created. We are individuals and so we have different tastes. There are many skins I go eeww at but I don't feel compelled to tell the artist that. I might give areas I don't care for or what I do like about it. Just lambasting a skin because you don't like it doesn't help one bit.
Its free, you aren't required to like it. In fact I don't care for most wood skins, it just isn't my thing but the Aero Executive is top notch. I like it. I bet most of the whiners never even tried the skin they just went by the screenshot.
Anyhow its a shame but you can't stop juviniles from being juvinile on the web. All you can do is perhaps limit their effectiveness. Those who show a continued disrespect should be banned just have their comments removed if possible.
Reply #56 Friday, January 18, 2008 12:55 PM
Vstyler nailed it again
Reply #57 Friday, January 18, 2008 1:40 PM
How did pointing out a childish flame fest on another site bring harmony and maturity to WC?
Reply #58 Friday, January 18, 2008 1:40 PM
Haliburton:
WWW Link
Big money, Dick Cheney, lots of rape and death. What a movie! Oh no it's real and it's happening with our blessing!
Kenneth Lay:
WWW Link
CROOK CROOK CROOK and how many lives ruined because of him?
Conrad Black:
WWW Link
I personally know a lot of good people who are losing their asses because of the greed that took over Conrad Black. How he ruined The Chicago Sun Times.
The Bhopal disaster:
WWW Link
Talk about losing your ass! So called 3rd world people, here in U.S. most didn't care!
The Corporation:
WWW Link
Must see movie. It'll open your eyes.
I agree totally with Frogboy about the skins.
Reply #59 Friday, January 18, 2008 2:17 PM
The existence of corrupt corporations does not indict the basic principle that if you want something produced for you then you either have to pay for someone to labor to produce it for you or you have to rely on their good will to produce it for you for free.
The Internet culture has become entrenched in a sense of unjustified entitlement.
We now live in a world where people have turned the concept of greed on its head: People who demand others labor for them for free are not greedy. But people who ask to be compensated for their labor are. That's insane and yet that is what we see over and over.
That sense of entitlement is what leads others to insult those who produce things for free if they don't like what has been produced. There isn't even the semblance of understanding that what they are insulting was produced out of good will. This is because people believe they are entitled to what others labor to produce for free.
Reply #60 Friday, January 18, 2008 3:04 PM
Long story, but the "First get paid" credo used to be unnecessary. Now doctors are forced to act like retail businessmen (not by patients, mind you, but by the Feds & third parties) or they do something else for a living.
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Reply #41 Friday, January 18, 2008 9:31 AM