| Software piracy has been a constant problem since the beginning of the computer era. One might even say that it is because of piracy that certain operating systems manufacturers enjoy a lion's share of the OS market, but that still doesn't stop these companies from putting the screws to the public. With the prolific growth of the World Wide Web, piracy has seen exponential growth as an industry. More and more corporations are finding it difficult to protect their intellectual property rights which requires large amounts of funding. These expenses are passed on to the end consumer in the form of higher retail costs. For many, this propagates "borrowing" and duplicating through the use of CD and DVD burners in order to get around the higher costs. Despite newer copy protections being utilized by the software manufacturers, hackers bypass and crack these copy protection schemes just as fast as they are created. In some cases in recent past, some copy protections used have backfired by preventing the very software it is supposed to protect from being read on certain brands of CD and DVD drives. A newer concept to fight software piracy is based upon the subscription model service. This coupled with cloud computing, which is in its infancy, has a very real opportunity to curtail software piracy, however, for the time being the immediate future software medium for the end consumer is starting to trend toward USB thumb drives. This is partly due to the smaller physical size of materials and the rapidly declining cost of flash memory. Manufactures can save on shipping and packaging and can sell a tangible reusable product for additional cost by issuing software titles on USB thumb drives. Eventually, but not for many years to come, there won't be a need to have any physical manifestations of software titles. We have started to see this in recent years with some tax filing software titles being hosted online. This is the effect and the best example of the World Wide Web. The limiting factor at this point is the lack of sufficient bandwidth for large software usage. Small businesses and large corporations alike that have a need for training videos or surveillance videos will still have a use for issuing information on CD or DVD discs for archival purposes. The average family will also want to use DVD discs for their home videos and special events. Eventually, with the convergence of multi-media computers and flat panel televisions, the need for DVD discs and players will become obsolete. This won't happen until the large majority of mainstream end consumers have at least one computer with the processing power capable of running multiple graphically intensive programs and other software simultaneously. For more information and guidance about digital media, USB thumbdrive technology, and DVD authoring, visit http://www.benchmarkmultimedia.com. Benchmark Multimedia specializes in digital media replication, production, and authoring for DVD, CD-ROM, and Flash Drive technology. Their site offers many insightful pointers on important digital media considerations. |
Thursday, May 28, 2009
The Shift from Desktop DVD and USB Thumb Drive Media to World-Wide-Web Computing
Monday, May 25, 2009
Choose Micro-Media from Benchmark Multimedia
At Benchmark we offer a variety of micro-media solutions that allow you to pack more information into a smaller package than you could ever dream of producing in print.
DVDs, CDs, and USB Flash Drives are extremely compact yet can hold an enormous amount of material, including interactive content, audio, and video.
With our short run and express duplication services you can create customized versions for specific customers or audiences and have finished goods in your hands before you'd typically have a press proof!
We can even do variable-data printing on individual disk faces!
Don't invest your precious promotional dollars in a closetful of static printed matter that starts to grow obsolete the minute you take delivery of it. Choose micro-media solutions from Benchmark for maximum impact, personalization, and economy.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Benchmark Multimedia : Monthly Specials
At Benchmark Multimedia we offer a variety of monthly specials including:
CD Demo Package
Looking for a Demo with a professional feel at a price you can afford? We can help.
Custom white or silver 'knockouts' are available at no additional charge. Take your demo to the next level with a custom 'knockout'!
CDs with full color thermal print in a ReSleeve
This new 'Sustainable' packaging option is 100% recycled and recyclable.
CD Demo Package
Looking for a Demo with a professional feel at a price you can afford? We can help.
- 100 CDs with black print in a slimline jewel case with a 2 panel 4/4 front insert
$2.00 each - 200 CDs with black print in a slimline jewel case with a 2 panel 4/4 front insert
$1.85 each
Custom white or silver 'knockouts' are available at no additional charge. Take your demo to the next level with a custom 'knockout'!
CDs with full color thermal print in a ReSleeve
This new 'Sustainable' packaging option is 100% recycled and recyclable.
- 50 - $2.15 each
- 100 - $2.00 each
- 200 - $1.85 each
Thursday, May 21, 2009
DVDs Will Save History as Never Before
Old school archival techniques require a lot of time, storage space and filing systems. This may still be the preferred method if a warehouse is available for such a purpose. Most individuals though do not have a protected warehouse for their personal papers and documents. Some very real world risks to these documents are fires and water damage due to flooding.
Storing crucial insurance and legal documents in a fireproof safe doesn't guarantee that they won't be damaged. The small fireproof safes available for purchase at local retailers are only rated to withstand up to around 1500 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 30 minutes. Many fires can quickly exceed this temperature and damage the contents without actually igniting the contents.
Flooding is another instance that poses risks to important documents. Any paper document will be ruined and indecipherable from even brief encounters with flood waters. Copies of these documents stored off site may not be damaged, but may prove to be impractical if there are a lot of documents to store.
The purpose is not to scare any individual, but to show how a false sense of security can ruin emergency planning. The preferred solution to storing not only crucial financial and legal documents, but family papers, pictures, and children's schoolwork is to scan each document and submit these digital copies so that they can be stored on CD or DVD for permanence. How will saving these papers onto DVD prevent the permanent loss of information?
Once all of the important information has been replicated or duplicated onto multiple CD or DVD discs, these multiple copies should be stored off site in no less than two separate places. A family member that lives in another location can store a small DVD disc whereas they may not find it acceptable to store file boxes of papers for you. Another recommended storage place, although it may seem old school, is a safety deposit box. Bank safes are perhaps the best location anywhere. It would be much less expensive to have a small safety deposit box housing a DVD than a storage locker sized safety deposit box for copious amounts of files. The best part of having information replicated on CD or DVD is that it can be encrypted should the financial or legal records ever get misplaced or stolen. From any angle, the information stays safely accessible only to yourself.
Some individuals would recommend other avenues of backing up important information such as online hosting or USB thumb drives. Online hosting of information is useful, but preventing non-authorized access to that information is a very real concern. No online hosting site is 100% secure. If the site does not backup all information sufficiently, then information may be at risk. USB thumbdrives are very portable and good for transporting or storing data, but are vulnerable to moisture unlike CD and DVDs. At this point DVD and CD replicating is the best option overall for creating backups of any information that may need to be stored for protection and posterity. Perhaps in another 10 to 15 years a better alternative will be available, but it won't be as inexpensive.
For more information and guidance about DVD authoring and duplication, visit http://www.benchmarkmultimedia.com. Benchmark Multimedia specializes in economical, accurate, and timely production of DVDs, CD-ROMs, Flash Memory cards, and more. Their site is a wealth of information on media replication, duplication, and distribution.
Storing crucial insurance and legal documents in a fireproof safe doesn't guarantee that they won't be damaged. The small fireproof safes available for purchase at local retailers are only rated to withstand up to around 1500 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 30 minutes. Many fires can quickly exceed this temperature and damage the contents without actually igniting the contents.
Flooding is another instance that poses risks to important documents. Any paper document will be ruined and indecipherable from even brief encounters with flood waters. Copies of these documents stored off site may not be damaged, but may prove to be impractical if there are a lot of documents to store.
The purpose is not to scare any individual, but to show how a false sense of security can ruin emergency planning. The preferred solution to storing not only crucial financial and legal documents, but family papers, pictures, and children's schoolwork is to scan each document and submit these digital copies so that they can be stored on CD or DVD for permanence. How will saving these papers onto DVD prevent the permanent loss of information?
Once all of the important information has been replicated or duplicated onto multiple CD or DVD discs, these multiple copies should be stored off site in no less than two separate places. A family member that lives in another location can store a small DVD disc whereas they may not find it acceptable to store file boxes of papers for you. Another recommended storage place, although it may seem old school, is a safety deposit box. Bank safes are perhaps the best location anywhere. It would be much less expensive to have a small safety deposit box housing a DVD than a storage locker sized safety deposit box for copious amounts of files. The best part of having information replicated on CD or DVD is that it can be encrypted should the financial or legal records ever get misplaced or stolen. From any angle, the information stays safely accessible only to yourself.
Some individuals would recommend other avenues of backing up important information such as online hosting or USB thumb drives. Online hosting of information is useful, but preventing non-authorized access to that information is a very real concern. No online hosting site is 100% secure. If the site does not backup all information sufficiently, then information may be at risk. USB thumbdrives are very portable and good for transporting or storing data, but are vulnerable to moisture unlike CD and DVDs. At this point DVD and CD replicating is the best option overall for creating backups of any information that may need to be stored for protection and posterity. Perhaps in another 10 to 15 years a better alternative will be available, but it won't be as inexpensive.
For more information and guidance about DVD authoring and duplication, visit http://www.benchmarkmultimedia.com. Benchmark Multimedia specializes in economical, accurate, and timely production of DVDs, CD-ROMs, Flash Memory cards, and more. Their site is a wealth of information on media replication, duplication, and distribution.
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