From reading the article, it sounds like Spotify itself doesn't get directly affected. Instead, the record companies and advertisers are upset. The record companies, because the shared pool of royalties that gets paid out is now getting split with white noise creators, leaving them a smaller share of the pie. The advertisers, because most people listening to white noise are using it to fall asleep or just keeping it on in the background, and therefore nobody will be listening/paying attention when the ads come on.
Tough titties for them, you may say, but if they don't like it, they may take their respective balls and go home. That would seriously impact Spotify, since without the music, most users will quickly lose interest, and the advertisers are a large part of their revenue stream. If they don't do something, they could end being a streaming service predominantly for white noise, which would be far less profitable.
It should also be taken into account that a lot of the white noise hits were not organic, but the result of a problem with how Spotify set up their algorithm.
It opens a separate session in the browser and prevents saving any cookies, history or other state locally when you close it. Doesn't change a blessed thing on the other end of the connection.
He didn’t want to buy the company. So, he’s turning it into a pet project.
That's a good point, and one that had not occurred to me. For all we know, he's already mentally written off the $44 billion as a loss and is just having fun with it, with no expectation of success.
It wasn't up the whole time. I went looking for it a few years ago after a new OS install, and found that, at the time, the site was in limbo with some message about coming back eventually, but no official way to download it. Glad it's back, hope they didn't turn it into enshittified bloatware.
I agree in general, but search feels like an odd example. That space has been dominated by ad companies since even before the internet (e.g., Yellow Pages).
That's a good way of putting it. Reminds me of how the technology behind gorilla glass had been around for decades, but its use suddenly exploded when smartphones came along and needed something like it. Wouldn't surprise me if Blockchain ends up existing as a niche thing for a long time until a killer app for it comes along.
If they're truly trying to be old school, I agree. Many such games actually come with adjustable filters to simulate that kind of distortion, and even arcade-like screen curvature (e.g., Hammerwatch).
That said, modern pixel art is evolving its own aesthetic that is valid and enjoyable in its own right. I don't think everyone making modern pixel art games is necessarily trying to be old school.
I got a similar effect by constructing a purpose-made monitor shelf. It's not as good for having a wide area open for large items, but it allows multiple levels for stacking, which works out great. It has one low shelf inside, just high enough to fit a keyboard and hands underneath, and then the top surface to put the actual monitors on. Keeping the bottom floor clear makes it easy to slide the keyboard in to make some temporary room in front of the structure, and the inside shelf provides a large general-purpose cavity for papers, mail, snacks, or what-have-you. There's also some room on the top to pile things up next to the monitors.
The original goal was just to get the monitors up to eye level, but I ended up enjoying the extra space at least as much.
It might also help with the potential problem of entire communities being eradicated by rogue actions from an instance admin, or instance issues in general. If the community is spread out across multiple instances, it can weather problems on its "main" instance without being as easily dispersed.
Good question. Maybe they did it deliberately to make it feel more alien and strange? Or maybe there's another rule about the relative number of syllables (e.g., Tom and Jerry, Jak and Daxter, etc.)
That's what they want you to think. (not sure if I'm being sarcastic or not)
Even if that's true, once they become a part of the ecosystem, they will start looking for ways to dominate it. That's just the nature of for-profit corporations.
From reading the article, it sounds like Spotify itself doesn't get directly affected. Instead, the record companies and advertisers are upset. The record companies, because the shared pool of royalties that gets paid out is now getting split with white noise creators, leaving them a smaller share of the pie. The advertisers, because most people listening to white noise are using it to fall asleep or just keeping it on in the background, and therefore nobody will be listening/paying attention when the ads come on.
Tough titties for them, you may say, but if they don't like it, they may take their respective balls and go home. That would seriously impact Spotify, since without the music, most users will quickly lose interest, and the advertisers are a large part of their revenue stream. If they don't do something, they could end being a streaming service predominantly for white noise, which would be far less profitable.
It should also be taken into account that a lot of the white noise hits were not organic, but the result of a problem with how Spotify set up their algorithm.