You can't compete with free. You just CAN'T. It's absolutely impossible.
That's why everybody is ignoring all the pay-for online games and playing Minesweeper and Solitaire. Microsoft has single-handedly wiped out the entire computer games industry.
A few years ago I used to work for an LED lighting company.
There's a communications protocol called DMX that's commonly used for controlling theater lighting, though of course anything commonly used for one thing is often used for related things as well.
Now, LEDs aren't like incandescent bulbs. Incandescents light by heating a wire until it glows, just short of melting. I don't know the physics of LEDs but they turn on and off pretty much instantaneously. However, unlike incandescents, they do not respond linearly to voltage changes (or current changes). IOW they don't dim very well.
But they turn on and off really, really quickly. So you "dim" an LED by turning it on and off very quickly, and the longer you leave it on compared to how long you leave it off, the brighter it gets. That's called "duty cycle". It's very linear. The most common method used to dim LEDs is called Pulse Width Modulation, or PWM. Because it's simple: you vary the duty cycle of a repeating, fixed-period pulse. All you need is a counter and a comparator.
There's apparently a lighting company -- I forget who -- who does, or at least at the time did, have a patent on using DMX with PWM to control LED lighting.
Now I don't know about you, but as a developer who was part of the industry, it's pretty freaking obvious to me that if you want to use theater lighting equipment to control LED lighting, you'd combine DMX with PWM. HOW THE F**K ELSE WOULD YOU DO IT?!?! But they have this patent and use it to beat up other lighting companies.
Fortunately for us, we had prior art. At least until I left, said competitor never brought us to court, and we never pursued having the patent invalidated. I guess our boss figured it was better to let them do all the work, and we were protected by the fact that suing us would be shooting themselves in the foot (and they knew it).
Meantime, several other companies have found ways around the patent. Cypress (who makes microcontrollers) has some sort of random-based method of controlling the duty cycle, and I happen to know that the 100th anniversary Times Square Ball uses a method called Bit Angle Modulation. (I don't know exactly what method the current one uses.)
So all these companies are trying to dance around this stupid invalid patent instead of innovating because... ponies? And please don't try to say that getting around the patent is innovation in and of itself. Broken Window fallacy.
a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPDwQwM1cLU&feature=player_detailpage#t=16s" target="_blank">"I would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for those meddling kids!"
Of course, it's not about which you prefer. It's about Coke and Pepsi tricking you into thinking that it's about which of the two you prefer: Coke or Pepsi -- and forgetting that there could be another brand you might like just fine.
In the long run they don't care so much about which of the two is number 1. They just don't want you thinking past the number 2.
The False Dilemma personified in a decades-long marketing campaign.
On the post: French Court Fails Digital Economics; Claims Free Google Maps Is Illegal
That's why everybody is ignoring all the pay-for online games and playing Minesweeper and Solitaire. Microsoft has single-handedly wiped out the entire computer games industry.
Speaking of maps, this nüvi that appeared on my dashboard last month? Ignore it, it can't possibly exist, because I already have Google Maps (with turn-by-turn navigation assist) on my Google Phone. And as we all know, you can't compete with free.
On the post: Oh No! Car Dealers Might Have To Deal With Informed Customers! That Must Be Illegal!
On the post: Always A Gatekeeper: RIAA Backs .music Proposal... If It's Only Limited To 'Accredited' Musicians
Re:
On the post: Always A Gatekeeper: RIAA Backs .music Proposal... If It's Only Limited To 'Accredited' Musicians
On the post: Always A Gatekeeper: RIAA Backs .music Proposal... If It's Only Limited To 'Accredited' Musicians
On the post: The Web Is Saved: East Texas Jury Says Eolas Patents Are Invalid
There's a communications protocol called DMX that's commonly used for controlling theater lighting, though of course anything commonly used for one thing is often used for related things as well.
Now, LEDs aren't like incandescent bulbs. Incandescents light by heating a wire until it glows, just short of melting. I don't know the physics of LEDs but they turn on and off pretty much instantaneously. However, unlike incandescents, they do not respond linearly to voltage changes (or current changes). IOW they don't dim very well.
But they turn on and off really, really quickly. So you "dim" an LED by turning it on and off very quickly, and the longer you leave it on compared to how long you leave it off, the brighter it gets. That's called "duty cycle". It's very linear. The most common method used to dim LEDs is called Pulse Width Modulation, or PWM. Because it's simple: you vary the duty cycle of a repeating, fixed-period pulse. All you need is a counter and a comparator.
There's apparently a lighting company -- I forget who -- who does, or at least at the time did, have a patent on using DMX with PWM to control LED lighting.
Now I don't know about you, but as a developer who was part of the industry, it's pretty freaking obvious to me that if you want to use theater lighting equipment to control LED lighting, you'd combine DMX with PWM. HOW THE F**K ELSE WOULD YOU DO IT?!?! But they have this patent and use it to beat up other lighting companies.
Fortunately for us, we had prior art. At least until I left, said competitor never brought us to court, and we never pursued having the patent invalidated. I guess our boss figured it was better to let them do all the work, and we were protected by the fact that suing us would be shooting themselves in the foot (and they knew it).
Meantime, several other companies have found ways around the patent. Cypress (who makes microcontrollers) has some sort of random-based method of controlling the duty cycle, and I happen to know that the 100th anniversary Times Square Ball uses a method called Bit Angle Modulation. (I don't know exactly what method the current one uses.)
So all these companies are trying to dance around this stupid invalid patent instead of innovating because... ponies? And please don't try to say that getting around the patent is innovation in and of itself. Broken Window fallacy.
On the post: OK Go Shows, Once Again, How Content Is Advertising... And How There Are Many Revenue Streams For Musicians
Re: Re: Re: Re: 2.6
On the post: The NFL Issues Takedown For Chrysler Super Bowl Commercial
Re: Re:
The result looks like this:
On the post: The NFL Issues Takedown For Chrysler Super Bowl Commercial
Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Hollywood Wants To Kill Piracy? No Problem: Just Offer Something Better
On the post: When Judges Are Determining Whether Or Not Art Should Exist... We Have A Problem
On the post: Is Using A Piece Of Existing Music In A Film To Underline An Emotion 'Rape' - Or Just The Way Cinema Works?
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On the post: Why Chris Dodd Failed With His SOPA/PIPA Strategy
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Go me.
On the post: Why Chris Dodd Failed With His SOPA/PIPA Strategy
On the post: Are Democrats About To Lose An Entire Generation Of Voters By Pushing PIPA/SOPA Forward?
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In the long run they don't care so much about which of the two is number 1. They just don't want you thinking past the number 2.
The False Dilemma personified in a decades-long marketing campaign.
On the post: Are Democrats About To Lose An Entire Generation Of Voters By Pushing PIPA/SOPA Forward?
Re: Re: Re: I've already made up my mind
What's really funny is the thought of the look on his face if he'd won. :)
On the post: Are Democrats About To Lose An Entire Generation Of Voters By Pushing PIPA/SOPA Forward?
Re: Re: Re: Re: I've already made up my mind
On the post: RIAA Takes MPAA's Condescending Response To Protests Up A Notch
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On the post: Supreme Court Chooses SOPA/PIPA Protest Day To Give A Giant Middle Finger To The Public Domain
On the post: Lamar Smith & MPAA Brush Off Wikipedia Blackout As Just A Publicity Stunt
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And it's totally irresponsible for them to black out the site when all these people (the ones who have never heard of it?) depend on it so much.
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