[mythtv-users] seagate giving refunds out

Calvin Dodge caldodge at gmail.com
Sat Nov 3 03:00:42 UTC 2007


On Nov 2, 2007 8:23 PM, Nick Morrott <knowledgejunkie at gmail.com> wrote:
> These are just my thoughts. Wouldn't the case have been thrown out if
> it had no merit at all? In the UK, misleading advertising it taken
> quite seriously.

"Merit" is in the eye of the beholder - witness some of the nutty
lawsuits which people have filed and won (visit overlawyered.com for
some examples).

I just don't think a 7% difference in storage space due to semantic
issues is worthy of a lawsuit.

> IMO storage media manufacturers don't help to bring clarity to the
> proceedings by continuing to use two different systems to state media
> capacity. If I buy:
>
> i) a 500GB drive, it has 500,000,000,000 bytes (465GiB)
> ii) a 1GB stick of RAM, it has 1,073,741,824 bytes (1GiB)
> iii) a 700MB CD-RW, it has 734,003,200 bytes (700MiB)
> iv) a 4.7GB DVD+R, it has 4,700,000,000 bytes (4.37GiB)


> I think it's reasonable that Joe Public should be able to compare
> apples with apples, and not have to worry about GiBs. I understand the
> difference. I doubt my grandad does.

And since every hard drive I'm aware of uses the base-10 definition,
Joe Public CAN compare apples with apples. And if Joe is backing up
his hard drive to DVDs (far more cost-effective than CDs), he'll be
able to calculate the maximum necessary number of DVDs for a full
backup.

In fact, I'd be willing to bet a small amount that if you showed Joe
Public the numbers 1,000,000,000 and 1,073,741,824, and then said
"giga means billion - which one of these looks like a billion to
you?", Joe would choose the first number.

But if you insist that the usage of differing definitions amounts to
an injustice, then by all means ask the legislative idiots of your
choice (or possibly the FTC) to pass laws specifying the consistent
usage of one definition or the other. That way companies will have
clear guidelines as to what terms to use, rather than being zapped
with "gotchas" by lawyers looking to buy more summer cottages.

<rant>

One of the most important features of our society is the rule of law -
the idea that people can know what the rules are, and that if they
follow the rules they won't be subject to confiscation or imprisonment
(check out Victor Davis Hanson's "Carnage and Culture" to see the
consequences of rule-by-might, instead of rule-of-law). Trial lawyers
and complicit judges (and, in some areas, juries) have been busy
eroding the rule of law - coming up with arbitrary ex post facto laws
which boil down to "I don't like it!"  You may like the consequences
of this particular ruling, but don't complain if someday somebody
decides they don't like something you're doing, and then decides to
get rich at your expense  (or, at least, bankrupt you with attorney
fees). Similarly, if you decide to protest in public, don't be
surprised if somebody cites the precedent of the Phelps case to hit
you up for big bucks (Phelps and his gang are despicable, but if the
1st Amendment somehow protects nude dancing, then it certainly should
protect their right to display their garbage in a public venue).

</rant>

Now I think I'll calm down with the episode of "Moonlight" which
Mythtv has just finished recording. (hmm, when I do a "ls -o
/myth/tv", I'm given the file sizes in base 10).

Calvin


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