Editing Antifeatures
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Antifeatures are a way to describe a particular practice made possible by locked down technologies. Antifeatures, as I describe them, are functionality (i.e., "features) that a technology developer will charge users not to include. You can read [http://www.fsf.org/bulletin/2007/fall/antifeatures/ my short article on the topic published in the FSF bulletin in 2007] for a series of examples and a more in-depth description. | Antifeatures are a way to describe a particular practice made possible by locked down technologies. Antifeatures, as I describe them, are functionality (i.e., "features) that a technology developer will charge users not to include. You can read [http://www.fsf.org/bulletin/2007/fall/antifeatures/ my short article on the topic published in the FSF bulletin in 2007] for a series of examples and a more in-depth description. | ||
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=== Printers === | === Printers === | ||
==== Printer Cartridges ==== | ==== Printer Cartridges ==== | ||
[http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20050222/1220232.shtml HP printers] | [http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20050222/1220232.shtml HP printers] have been supplied with cartridges that both report 'empty' when they have 25% ink still remaining, but also have a 'use by date' encoded into the chip, which disables the printer cartridge if it is used after that date (no HP printer will use it). | ||
have been supplied with cartridges that both report 'empty' when they | |||
have 25% ink still remaining, but also have a 'use by date' encoded into | |||
the chip, which disables the printer cartridge if it is used after that | |||
date (no HP printer will use it). | |||
In general the | In general the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inkjet_printer#Underlying_business_model business model] of printer manufacturers has been to lose money on the printer and make it on the printer cartridges. This has caused such antifeatures as: | ||
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inkjet_printer#Underlying_business_model business model] of printer manufacturers has been to lose money on the | |||
printer and make it on the printer cartridges. This has caused such | |||
antifeatures as: | |||
* Reporting the cartridge as empty when (often substantial) ink remains. | * Reporting the cartridge as empty when (often substantial) ink remains. | ||
* Microchips that will report the cartridge size by number of uses | * Microchips that will report the cartridge size by number of uses rather than by amount of ink remaining. These will ignore any refilling of the cartridge. | ||
rather than by amount of ink remaining. These will ignore any refilling | * accepting only regionnally bought cartridges (HP zoned the world the same way as DVD !!) | ||
of the cartridge. | |||
* accepting only regionnally bought cartridges (HP zoned the world the | |||
same way as DVD !!) | |||
There are other features of the printer cartridge industry that are anticompetitive (e.g. use of DMCA and patents to protect antifeature code) but do not involve specific software or hardware - i.e. they aren't 'antifeatures' per se. | |||
not | |||
==== Printer Yellow Dots ==== | ==== Printer Yellow Dots ==== | ||
Many printers produce a background of hard to see yellow dots on every | Many printers produce a background of hard to see yellow dots on every page. This pattern is unique to the printer and can be used to identify the printer that produced a page. | ||
page. This pattern is unique to the printer and can be used to identify | |||
the printer that produced a page. | |||
This is not officially acknowledged by printer manufacturers, but | This is not officially acknowledged by printer manufacturers, but appears to be as a result of a shady deal between government and the manufacturers. | ||
appears to be as a result of a shady deal between government and the | |||
manufacturers. | |||
See: [http://seeingyellow.com/ http://seeingyellow.com/] | See: [http://seeingyellow.com/ http://seeingyellow.com/] | ||
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Microsoft, in its Windows Vista guide to implementing HDMI and HDCP, encouraged hardware and software developers to '''go above and beyond''' the definitions and actively provide more features to restrict what users can do. | Microsoft, in its Windows Vista guide to implementing HDMI and HDCP, encouraged hardware and software developers to '''go above and beyond''' the definitions and actively provide more features to restrict what users can do. | ||
=== Shareware unregistered copy limitations === | |||
Shareware for the MS-DOS market typically came in two versions: the one that users pay for, and a feature-restricted unregistered version that had some limit on functionality to encourage the user to get the paid version. Restrictions included printing "unregistered copy of (application)" on printed documents, disallowing saving, limiting document size, and a "nag screen" asking the user to upgrade at startup. | |||
=== Microsoft Windows Starter Editions === | === Microsoft Windows Starter Editions === | ||
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==== Amarok ==== | ==== Amarok ==== | ||
The Amarok Player Development Team implemented a feature which downloads covers of Albums from amazon.com on the fly. Amazon forced the amarok team to implement a feature which deletes the downloaded copies of the cover art work after a week. | The Amarok Player Development Team implemented a feature which downloads covers of Albums from amazon.com on the fly. Amazon forced the amarok team to implement a feature which deletes the downloaded copies of the cover art work after a week. | ||
== Miscellaneous Antifeatures == | == Miscellaneous Antifeatures == |