The complete story: https://www.bluejeanscable.com/legal/mcp/index.htm
Thank you! The original blog post sets up a story and then gives no ending.
Monster Cables picked the wrong guy to threaten (2008)
151–160 of 210 posts
Re: Monster Cables picked the wrong guy to threaten (2008)
#152Nice dig at the supreme court on their payments page. Kurt hasn't lost his mojo.
Re: Monster Cables picked the wrong guy to threaten (2008)
#153Earlier quoted context omitted.
This isn’t even true with other common ‘digital’ cables. Not all ‘Ethernet’ cables are the same. Someone will give you 100mbit. Some will give you a gigabit. Some will give you even more. They’ve all got RJ45 on them. “All HDMI cables are the same” is an almost-baseless corruption of a very valid critique of Monster et al.
RJ45 is just the plug. Ethernet cables are labeled with category 5, 5e, 6 etc.
8P8C is the plug.
RJ45 is a wiring pin-out standard for that plug [1]. It's also a standard for telephony, not networking -- it carries one phone line. A gross waste of pins if you ask me.
[1] Not quite. An RJ45S plug has a tab on the side that will not insert into an 8P8C jack.
Re: Monster Cables picked the wrong guy to threaten (2008)
#154Earlier 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…
Speaking of high quality "Monstrous Cables" and draconian legal remedies: there's K. W. Jeter's Noir (1998), a Cyberpunk novel whose detective protagonist's main job is killing copyright violators so that their still-living spinal cords may be incorporated into hi-fi system cables: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15668069 DonHopkins on Nov 10, 2017 | parent | context | favorite | on: Electric Sheep on Ubuntu Lin…
I may as well go off topic from cables (but at least on topic to the post) and mention the excellent Blade Runner video game, which had a compatibility re-release and is currently on sale for a couple bucks.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1678420/Blade_Runner_Enha...
A slightly odd review: https://youtube.com/watch?v=vAmXzVuFEoA
Re: Monster Cables picked the wrong guy to threaten (2008)
#155I 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…
> I had no idea Monster sold anything other than over priced guitar cables...
Basically, someone asked themselves "how do I port the audiophile scam to the home entertainment space?" And monster cables was born.
When Monster first came out it became a meme.
Their advertisement was laughable and remember joking with tech savvy friends about how all wire was vastly inferior to the alien technology monster used in their oxygen free high purity copper that "allows more music to flow" (actual quote from their shitty packaging.) They sold cables for everything AV and then invaded the musician space with their trash.
Overly aggressive salesmen in electronics stores would push them on every sale. It was tiring. Buying a little TV for the kitchen? "Dont forget the monster HDMI cable and monster coax cable to hook up the cable box! oh and the monster surge strip that purifies the electron essence before the harmonic protuberances make it into your music!" Sure thing chief, lemme spend a hundred bucks on five bucks worth of cable. No wonder they turned into a meme and a lot of people hated them. But there's always a sucker who loves showing off his $80 cables to another sucker.
Re: Monster Cables picked the wrong guy to threaten (2008)
#156I 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…
> I had no idea Monster sold anything other than over priced guitar cables... Basically, someone asked themselves "how do I port the audiophile scam to the home entertainment space?" And monster cables was born. When Monster first came out it became a meme. Their advertisement was laughable and remember joking with tech savvy friends about how all wire was vastly inferior to the alien technology monster used in their…
If you travel back im time you’ll find audio connectors corroded. It was standard practice to use an eraser to polish the jacks. Monster offered gold plated connectors. It really made difference. Any benefits beyond non corrosive is questionable.
Re: Monster Cables picked the wrong guy to threaten (2008)
#157Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I had no idea Monster sold anything other than over priced guitar cables... Basically, someone asked themselves "how do I port the audiophile scam to the home entertainment space?" And monster cables was born. When Monster first came out it became a meme. Their advertisement was laughable and remember joking with tech savvy friends about how all wire was vastly inferior to the alien technology monster used in their…
If you travel back im time you’ll find audio connectors corroded. It was standard practice to use an eraser to polish the jacks. Monster offered gold plated connectors. It really made difference. Any benefits beyond non corrosive is questionable.
And now they sell gold-plated optical connectors.
Re: Monster Cables picked the wrong guy to threaten (2008)
#158I 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…
> I had no idea Monster sold anything other than over priced guitar cables..
Overpriced because you are envious of their marketing or pricing strategy? They were appropriately priced as long as the marketing wasn't more deceptive than products are generally (and noting it's not a food product or medical claim).
> But it wasn't because of their alleged improved sound quality or whatever, it was because they had a lifetime warranty.
Isn't that (along with branding) a valid reason to price a product at a certain level?
Re: Monster Cables picked the wrong guy to threaten (2008)
#159Has a "...what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you." energy to it.
Re: Monster Cables picked the wrong guy to threaten (2008)
#160I 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…
> I had no idea Monster sold anything other than over priced guitar cables... Basically, someone asked themselves "how do I port the audiophile scam to the home entertainment space?" And monster cables was born. When Monster first came out it became a meme. Their advertisement was laughable and remember joking with tech savvy friends about how all wire was vastly inferior to the alien technology monster used in their…
Yeah, 1979 was totally the biggest year in meme history.