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dayve
Forum Moderator
USA
5820 Posts |
 Posted - 15 December 2003 : 19:23:12
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Ha Ha Ha... reminds me of the Unisys/CompuServe GIF controversy.
quote:
Microsoft will soon be charging manufacturers of flash memory card devices and those which use them $0.25 per unit or up to $250,000 to use the FAT filesystem. For those who are unaware the FAT file system was developed by Microsoft back in 1976 and has become the standard file system for all digital still cameras. Microsoft owns patents to the FAT File System but for many years hasn't even hinted that it may one day decide to charge for it. These new licenses appear to come into effect immediately and specifically make mention of 'compact flash memory cards' and 'portable digital still cameras'. What a great way for Microsoft to cash in on the most popular consumer products (as if they don't make enough money already).
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0312/03120403microsoftisfat.asp |
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masterao
Senior Member
Sweden
1678 Posts |
Posted - 15 December 2003 : 19:30:45
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That it does, Dayve. Perhaps MS thought their reputation was getting too good, and they decided it was time to change that. 
I hope they won't push the prices too high with this. |
Jan
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FR Portal Forums | Active Users 4.0.20 Mod |
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OneWayMule
Dev. Team Member & Support Moderator
Austria
4969 Posts |
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RichardKinser
Snitz Forums Admin
USA
16655 Posts |
Posted - 15 December 2003 : 19:35:54
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| There are no rules about "making too much money". Microsoft developed FAT, they have every right to make money off of something they developed. $0.25 per unit is cheap, they could be asking for alot more. |
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DavidRhodes
Senior Member
United Kingdom
1222 Posts |
Posted - 15 December 2003 : 19:37:35
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I'm sure it will end the same way as the GIF thingy!
What a load of rubbish! |
The UK MkIVs Forum |
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DavidRhodes
Senior Member
United Kingdom
1222 Posts |
Posted - 15 December 2003 : 19:46:21
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quote:
Originally posted by RichardKinser
There are no rules about "making too much money". Microsoft developed FAT, they have every right to make money off of something they developed. $0.25 per unit is cheap, they could be asking for alot more.
True, but they developed it 20+ years ago, can they justify charging for it now when they haven't previously? |
The UK MkIVs Forum |
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HuwR
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
20585 Posts |
Posted - 15 December 2003 : 19:53:09
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quote:
Originally posted by DavidRhodes
quote:
Originally posted by RichardKinser
There are no rules about "making too much money". Microsoft developed FAT, they have every right to make money off of something they developed. $0.25 per unit is cheap, they could be asking for alot more.
True, but they developed it 20+ years ago, can they justify charging for it now when they haven't previously?
probably yes, since previously only MS operating sytems used FAT  it is only recently that CF has taken off and used it, other memory cards SD/MMC etc do not use FAT |
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Gremlin
General Help Moderator
New Zealand
7528 Posts |
Posted - 15 December 2003 : 20:28:55
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| SD/MMC can be FAT formatted though can't they ? I would have thought the SD Card in my PDA is FAT. |
Kiwihosting.Net - The Forum Hosting Specialists
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HuwR
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
20585 Posts |
Posted - 15 December 2003 : 20:49:20
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| yes, but it is your choice to format it as FAT, most of the other devices do not necesarily use fat to access them though not the manufacturer of the card, surely they would have to charge HD manufacturers as well, since their drives may be formated to use FAT |
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Gremlin
General Help Moderator
New Zealand
7528 Posts |
Posted - 15 December 2003 : 23:01:26
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| So I guess what we'll end up with is all blank media being just that, blank and unformatted. |
Kiwihosting.Net - The Forum Hosting Specialists
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Doug G
Support Moderator
USA
6493 Posts |
Posted - 16 December 2003 : 00:26:47
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Perhaps all future cards should be ext2 or ext3 only, so only *nix boxen would be able to read the camera cards :)
Reading stuff like this reminds me of Geese and certain colored eggs, and SCO.
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Doug G
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Computer history and help at www.dougscode.com |
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