There's an article up on /. discussing how much iTunes Music Store sales have fallen. I'll admit, as a stockholder, that I'm a little concerned, but what's more intriguing in this story are the /. posters' responses. It's painful, and makes me wonder what date /. went to the dogs.

Slashdot | iTunes Sales 'Collapsing':
[one reply from a poster]
I'll blame the 65% decrease in sales on the new version of iTunes which broke even the latest version of SharpMusique more than a year ago. SharpMusique was the successor to PyMusique. Both programs allowed you to purchase iTunes music from Linux without the use of a Windows emulator. On top of that, both programs didn't install DRM on your music (the iTunes program itself is what adds the DRM, all iTunes music is stored on their server without any DRM).

I bought a lot of music using SharpMusique but now... I guess Apple doesn't want my money anymore.

That's it. Linux users who liked getting unDRMed content stopped buying iTunes Music Store tracks and *poof*, 65% of the sales went away. Once again, your barrier to entry (in this case, the reason the Linux-aphile, above, is himself [sic] likely going to stop buying) is everyone's barrier. *sigh*

Okay, so let's say this guy was pranking /.. It was a joke. He knows it's not Linux users that are making sales plummet, but thought it'd get a rise out of /. readers. Apparently an accurate prediction, as at least one person with mod points has called the above comment "insightful".

The fun continues, and after one more example I'll leave the fun as an exercise for the reader.

Who the hell is Forrester & how have they had access to Credit Card transactions for 27 months ?

Where the hell did my tinfoil hat go ?!

I believe you mean, "Where did my ability to read small print go?" or, perhaps, better yet, "When did my representatives in Congress stop putting the interests of their constituents first?"

This is not to say that all posts are bad. Some aren't at all, and do get "rewarded" with mod points. But many, even the vast majority with points, are tired /.er tripe that thinks that the whole world thinks like they do or, if they don't agree, that those who don't agree are wrong.

Smell the other side, folk. As a deliberative news source for nerds, /. is broken.