Charles on… anything that comes along

The music industry says that ISPs should stop people sharing its content online, and take action against them. I say: damn right. But also - take your turn in line, you guys. There’s people in front of you who’ve been suffering from the internet’s ravages for a long time already. Like newspapers, porn, cross-stitch and games consoles.

All this online sharing has to stop explains it:

No, we the print newspaper industry demand that ISPs stop people sharing our content over the internet. In fact, why not a “reading tax” on ISPs? The more of its customers visit a newspaper site, the more tax it should pay.

And..

Next, pornography. You know, there used to be tons of top-shelf magazines, all earning a comfortable living. Then you know what? The damn internet came along and at a stroke destroyed their business model, in which shifty-gazed commuters had to go into insalubrious shops to get “content”. Now there are loads of internet sites (Google reliably tells me) where you can get free amateur porn - exactly the same sort of stuff that people used to pay for! It’s shocking (and what’s more, there are no unsightly staples in the middle of the pictures).

Unlicensed pornography trading has put paid to some of the best-known names in the industry. Name any porn magazine that isn’t 75% thinner now and filled with ads in the back for internet sites. This cannot be allowed to go on. Once again, ISPs bear a heavy responsibility for propelling big porn empires and small corner shops with dimly lit corners - not to mention the makers of high shelves - into penury.

And more. Enjoy.

These posts might be related (the database thinks..):
• What's the future of photography? (18 November 2005; score: 49.46%)
• On file-sharing, lawsuits and the price of downloads (16 March 2005; score: 48.28%)
• The father of articles about podcasting? (13 June 2005; score: 32.74%)

Yeah, I know Jack has covered this on the Guardian Tech blog, but seeing how I have form on this, it seemed worth noting. Fake Steve Jobs - aka Daniel Lyons - did a number on the possibility of Notes coming to the iPhone (the iPhone? Uh??).

The bit in the FSJ post that made me laff though is:

Have you ever seen Notes? It’s not software, it’s a form of punishment. Companies that use Notes have to staff not only a help desk but also a suicide prevention center — it’s that bad.

But he also dissed Ed Brill, one of the lead people in Notes.. er.. talking-upping. Who points back to an article from 1998 written by Lyons about how

Predictably, pretty much all the quotes on the FSJ blog go in the same direction.. like this:

It’s true. I worked at IBM a while back and everyone in my section (all 100 of us) hated Notes. For some reason, before my arrival, they had been allowed to not use Notes. But then the big man laid down the smack.

Or this from “IBMer”:

Best FSJ post ever! I am forced to use Lotus Notes and it’s got to be the most user unfriendly pile of crap I’ve ever seen. Of course the IT guys tell me that it’s “powerful under the hood”. So what? I use it as an e-mail client and hate the people who force me to do it more every day.

Meanwhile on the Ed Brill blog the comments are mostly one-way traffic… though I do like this one:

I’ve been a Notes Dev for 6 years and in that time I can’t recall once having an end user tell me how much they loved using it. In fact, the vast majority treat it like a burden they are required to bear.

And this one:

I’ve been a Notes dev for 9 years, and my users have never once complained about the UI of any Notes app. The overwhelming array of toolbar buttons and the crazy layout of menus, yes, but they’ve never complained about Notes APPS (other than mail.. a little).

But the one which clinches it, absolutely nails it, is this one on the FSJ blog:

This is the approved standard Notes reply, and seems to have been in use since the first version. “As for your comments on Notes x, I suggest you take a look at Notes x+1.” Well, maybe it’s a bit less crappy, but it’s still crap. Gimme a call when you’ve finished Notes 20….

Yeah. At work, everyone’s still on Notes x. Everyone who tells us how much better it is using Notes x+1. And no, I can’t be bothered to find out which version of Notes we’re using at work. It’s x, OK?

These posts might be related (the database thinks..):
• In The Guardian: Lotus Notes vs the end user (9 February 2006; score: 83.39%)
• In today's Guardian: a Lotus Notes followup (16 February 2006; score: 70.39%)
• The Lotus Notes hating just goes on... and on: it's the Marmite of the IT world (21 July 2008; score: 55.81%)