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Monster Cables picked the wrong guy to threaten (2008)
141–150 of 210 posts
Re: Monster Cables picked the wrong guy to threaten (2008)
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
most hacker thing I've seen here in years
The website is almost 20 years old and they are no many to throw a tantrum like this. And it can all be cleaned with a DELETE WHERE LIKE sql statement.
They proved a serious vulnerability to the entire site without causing irreputable damage.
Phreak on.
(and not very important but to be pedantic, I don't know if hn has an sql backend? It used to be all in-memory if I recall, but that was many years ago)
Re: Monster Cables picked the wrong guy to threaten (2008)
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
But in the end did monster actually face any penalty at all? They threatened the guy, the guy said no, end of story. The bully moves on to threaten the next guy. The story insinuates lasting damage but it seems kind of subtle...
Most importantly, it was also popularly published. So the critical but tricky to measure metrics now are "how much sales do we loose because we are now firmly labeled as a bully in peoples minds" and "how much potential licensing revenue have we lost because people know they don't need to fold immediately"
It is hard do say, though, because the market for Monster cables is pretty clearly people who came in off the street, read nothing, and picked the fanciest looking cable. By their nature they are immune to bad press, right?
Re: Monster Cables picked the wrong guy to threaten (2008)
#144Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, there is now some truth to it. For example, low quality HDMI cable will may be only good enough for low bandwidth, that would limit refresh rate, and/or color fidelity (e.g. chroma subsampling) and/or resolution. So yea, “digital” cables are not immune to signal integrity issues, and better cables do perform better. I understand that monster takes this to the next level of bullshit — but in principle, yes, more…
> So yea, “digital” cables are not immune to signal integrity issues, and better cables do perform better. Better cables perform better, but not at all in the way that Monster suggests. Gold plating and oxygen-free copper doesn't matter. Any certified HDMI cable will operate at least to its certification, whether or not it is gold plated with triple shielded conductors. I wish the HDMI forum would officially deprecat…
Besides interference and lying about specs, cables can be designed for durability or not.
I buy cheap cables from China. They generally work-to-spec out of the...plastic bag, but may not handle frequent plug/unplug cycles or any sort of rough treatment.
Re: Monster Cables picked the wrong guy to threaten (2008)
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
The reviews on the cables in question (Blue Jeans Cable) are wild. https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RYLMXICLLSJWC?ASI... "Music was much more open with plenty of air around the instruments. Imaging was superb - greatly improved over previous cables that I used. The depth was substantially improved with great instrumental recognition from front to rear. In other words, the speakers managed to disappear and o…
Welcome to the world of audiophiles. This kind of hyperbole for the magical powers bestowed by even the smallest (or most dubious) accessories is a source of unending amusement for me, if it wasn't so foolish.
My favorite quote:
Music lovers buy hifi systems to listen to their music.
Audiophiles buy music to listen to their hifi systems.
Re: Monster Cables picked the wrong guy to threaten (2008)
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, there is now some truth to it. For example, low quality HDMI cable will may be only good enough for low bandwidth, that would limit refresh rate, and/or color fidelity (e.g. chroma subsampling) and/or resolution. So yea, “digital” cables are not immune to signal integrity issues, and better cables do perform better. I understand that monster takes this to the next level of bullshit — but in principle, yes, more…
> So yea, “digital” cables are not immune to signal integrity issues, and better cables do perform better. Better cables perform better, but not at all in the way that Monster suggests. Gold plating and oxygen-free copper doesn't matter. Any certified HDMI cable will operate at least to its certification, whether or not it is gold plated with triple shielded conductors. I wish the HDMI forum would officially deprecat…
You're making me wonder about nuance. Since those ports are exclusively called HDMI, I wonder if you could call your unlicensed cable "HDMI compatible."
If your TV only supports 4k@60 HDMI 2, no need to go buy more expensive cables with specs you can't use. And even then, unless you're playing time-sensitive games, 4k@60 is probably all you need anyway.
Re: Monster Cables picked the wrong guy to threaten (2008)
#147It's not that they picked the wrong guy to threaten - it's just that this particular one won't work out for Monster. No worries, on to the next. If 1 guy out of 100 fights back, and then you just leave that one alone, you're still a big winner.
Yeah, the title made me assume that he won a countersuit or got the company fined or something.
In reality, he just sent them a slightly-snarky response to their flimsy cease-and-desist, and they decided not to go forward with a lawsuit, which is probably how it would have played out anyway.
Re: Monster Cables picked the wrong guy to threaten (2008)
#148Ha, I love that this is about Blue Jeans Cables. I actually just bought some of their stuff this week-- really incredibly well made cables. Their website looks like it hasn't been updated in the 90s, which leads me to believe that cable quality and website quality are inversely correlated.
Re: Monster Cables picked the wrong guy to threaten (2008)
#149I had no idea Monster sold anything other than over priced guitar cables... About 15 yeard ago, I knew a guy who exclusively bought Monster... well he had two of them, one from the guitar to the pedal board and another from the board to the amp. But it wasn't because of their alleged improved sound quality or whatever, it was because they had a lifetime warranty. Dude had bought two monster 1/4inch cables and gotten…
> Dude had bought two monster 1/4inch cables and gotten them replaced "for free" like 5 times.
Every time I've had a cable fail it was at one of the solder joints on the connector. Stripping it down and re-soldering takes a few minutes, sure, but it saves you from having to drive to a music shop or pay for shipping. For this reason I try to only buy cables that are built to let you do this instead of ones with closed, molded ends.
Re: Monster Cables picked the wrong guy to threaten (2008)
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Monster's counsel had made a horrible mistake, and probably caused lasting harm to the company, by sending me that ridiculous letter This sort of thing always reminds of the Jack Daniels cease and desist letter[0], which, at least for me, had the exact opposite effect. 0. https://brokenpianoforpresident.wordpress.com/2012/07/19/jac...
Wow pretty sure that’s the first time I’ve read a nice polite legal letter shared that wasn’t threatening.
Right? Monster is lucky they didn't have to square up against the venerable and vicious Leonard "J" Crabs*.
* The "J" stands for "Good Work!"