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One of the worst polls ever

DrinkLyeAndDie

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The following is posted as my own words and opinion...

LifeHacker.com
is having a poll for the best ripping program. Refer here (http://lifehacker.com/380702/five-best-dvd-ripping-tools).

What makes this poll so bad, worthless, and just completely idiotic you may wonder? Well, they have narrowed the options for voting down to 5 programs: DVD Shrink, HandBrake, DVDFab HD Decrypter, MacTheRipper, and DVD Decrypter. Um, say what? :confused: Where is AnyDVD? Where is CloneDVD? Am I missing something? This cannot possibly be a legitimate informed poll, can it? Did the person who created the poll fall asleep a few years ago and just wake up?

DVD Shrink cannot handle newer protections, HandBrake cannot handle any protections, and DVD Decrypter is dead for all intents and purposes. RipIt4Me gave DVD Decrypter new life and RipIt4Me wasn't even mentioned. So, three of the 5 choices are essentially obsolete with one of them completely unable to handle any commercial discs with protection. There is no way DVDFab could lose in this poll!

This is absolutely one of the worst polls I have ever seen in my life. Best ripping software? This is an utter joke. While LifeHacker does offer useful information on its website this poll shows utter incompetence on the part of the creator, IMHO. The fact that Slysoft just received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Maximum PC Magazine makes this even more ridiculous.

Edit: This post is intended to be extremely sarcastic and I know that AnyDVD and DVD43 were given honorable mentions. I don't even consider DVD43 to be in the same league as AnyDVD and AnyDVD can rip DVDs. The real question is what is the definition of a ripper. IMHO a ripper can't just be a program that only handles unprotected discs or only some protected discs. CloneDVD should be on that list the programs because other than DVDFab and MacTheRipper are in the poll but it doesn't decrypt. So, some might say the poll isn't about a decrypter and that is why AnyDVD wasn't included but AnyDVD does more than decrypt. That doesn't fly with me but so be it. In the end, it becomes clear to me that the real real issue with this poll is its title. It is titled Five Best DVD Ripping Tools but if you look at those 5 tools they have one thing in common and that is the fact that they are freeware. It should really be Five Best Free Ripping Tools.
 
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Yes, that is one of the stupidest polls I've ever read (I also hate polls; that's why I close most of them here. What do opinion polls prove other than what is the lowest common denominator for a certain segment of a population during a certain time?). Also, what happened to that German ripping program that was one of the first to commercialize what Ripit4me did for free? Why isn't that program listed? Also, Anydvd ripper does rip, but apparently that poll seems to have been created by those that are stuck in a time warp.

Oh well, if the poll had something to do with "decrypting" I suppose I would just simply laugh louder at the poll because, as we know, Anydvd HD simply does more than all mentioned--and it does it on the fly (and for those that don't think that's a big deal, wander over to the Anydvd HD forum and get an education concerning why intelligent HTPC users do care).
 
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It should really be Five Best Free Ripping Tools.

Oh, well in that case, since they're listing some programs that are abandonware, why aren't they also listing Ripit4me? Legal reasons?

Anyway they state, "Now that we've seen the five most popular . . . "

Uh, sorry, not even close (not that I equate popularity with quality). visit http://news.google.com/. Do a search on Anydvd. Now do a search on mactheripper. O.k., now try dvdfab. Now tell me what ripper has the most relevance in society and, in turn, the news.

Also, in terms of audience and market share, I've got a hard time believing any ripper exclusive to the Mac is in the top 5 with respect to popularity.
 
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I saw that come up in my RSS feeds. Some of the comments were for programs which were encoders. Nothing to do with ripping DVDs mind you.

The poll doesn't really matter.
 
I saw that come up in my RSS feeds. Some of the comments were for programs which were encoders. Nothing to do with ripping DVDs mind you.

Yeah, I read some comments but, in general, I was just rolling my eyes.

The poll doesn't really matter.

Well, of course it doesn't matter because we all know the real winner(s) regardless of some silly poll. ;)
 
Well, of course it doesn't matter because we all know the real winner(s) regardless of some silly poll.

I wanna be a winner! Why wasn't I listed? I'm a great ripper! You should see me shred paper!

O.k., o.k., that (really) bad joke just proves I'm a loser.

:rock:
 
Oh, well in that case, since they're listing some programs that are abandonware, why aren't they also listing Ripit4me? Legal reasons?

Anyway they state, "Now that we've seen the five most popular . . . "

Uh, sorry, not even close (not that I equate popularity with quality). visit http://news.google.com/. Do a search on Anydvd. Now do a search on mactheripper. O.k., now try dvdfab. Now tell me what ripper has the most relevance in society and, in turn, the news.

Also, in terms of audience and market share, I've got a hard time believing any ripper exclusive to the Mac is in the top 5 with respect to popularity.

Well, I don't think MacTheRipper comes close to competing with the likes of Windows apps in this department I also have to defend it being on the list. I have a rather large number of friends who are Mac users. They love Macs anyway but they also use them for work and they definitely are better suited to their needs in that department.

Not everyone who runs a Mac wants to have to use either VM software or BootCamp and have to also install Windows to backup their DVDs. So, I can see the legitimacy of MacTheRipper in this department. Mac users may not equal Windows users but Macs and media have always been a nice combo. One of these days I'll have to get either a MacBook or a Mac Mini.

The simple fact is the list of programs is definitely out of left field.
 
Well, I don't think MacTheRipper comes close to competing with the likes of Windows apps in this department I also have to defend it being on the list. I have a rather large number of friends who are Mac users. They love Macs anyway but they also use them for work and they definitely are better suited to their needs in that department.

Not everyone who runs a Mac wants to have to use either VM software or BootCamp and have to also install Windows to backup their DVDs. So, I can see the legitimacy of MacTheRipper in this department. Mac users may not equal Windows users but Macs and media have always been a nice combo. One of these days I'll have to get either a MacBook or a Mac Mini.

The simple fact is the list of programs is definitely out of left field.


I'm not saying that Mactheripper is a bad program. I'm not saying that it's not worthy of being considered a good program. I'm saying I contest the claim that it's amongst "the five most popular" simply based on what I know about platform market share.
 
I'm not saying that Mactheripper is a bad program. I'm not saying that it's not worthy of being considered a good program. I'm saying I contest the claim that it's amongst "the five most popular" simply based on what I know about platform market share.

I agree with you. :)

As we can see from the programs in the poll, however, they didn't take market share or reality into account when they compiled the list. :p
 
I'm not saying that Mactheripper is a bad program. I'm not saying that it's not worthy of being considered a good program. I'm saying I contest the claim that it's amongst "the five most popular" simply based on what I know about platform market share.
I must be out of the Loop. I never even heard of MactheRipper.:confused:
 
It is a ripper for the Mac PC SlyFox_1. Out of the loop must be really tired I bet?
 
the 5 ones in the list are the most popular ones that readers of that site use:
quote from: http://lifehacker.com/380702/five-best-dvd-ripping-tools

O.k., I wasn't aware of that. Well, then I suppose I will have to retract my remarks concerning the "most popular". However, clearly, the readers there are not making informed decisions if they expect mactheripper, which hasn't seen an update since (early) 2008, (much less the other abandonware programs mentioned, by themselves) to rip all commercial dvds for them.
 
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mactheripper, which hasn't seen an update since 2005

Being a mac user first (and for far longer), and Windows user second, I have to come to mactherippers defense. As far as DVD ripping programs for the mac (and there arent many), MTR far exceeds any other program available for the purpose of ripping commercial dvd's, on a mac that is. I've been a user of MTR for 7 yrs now. There is no mac equivalent of AnyDVD that i've ever seen, but MTR is a close as anyone has come. Also, saying that mactheripper hasnt been updated since 2005 is a slightly inaccurate statement. MTR was last updated on 1/10/08, yes not as frequently as AnyDVD, but its only one guy doing everything, its not a company. It could be you are getting confused with the last publicly available free version listed on versiontracker, which is 2.6.6

I've recently decided to purchase and use AnyDVD and CloneDVD for my ripping purposes (I have a PC at home as well as my MAC), simply cause it works with far less steps and hoops to jump through than does MTR. But as far as conquering protection schemes goes, it does this just as effectively as AnyDVD.

I love my MAC, but as far as DVD ripping programs go, I cant see anything that beats AnyDVD. I've been converted, and have been happy since day one using this program. I just felt i had to defend mactheripper, since I've used it for so long, and it was my first ripping program. Actually, anytime i dont have access to a PC at all, and only my MAC, i use nothing other than MTR. In the mac world, its the only game in town.
 
Being a mac user first (and for far longer), and Windows user second, I have to come to mactherippers defense. As far as DVD ripping programs for the mac (and there arent many), MTR far exceeds any other program available for the purpose of ripping commercial dvd's, on a mac that is. I've been a user of MTR for 7 yrs now. There is no mac equivalent of AnyDVD that i've ever seen, but MTR is a close as anyone has come.

I appreciate that, but what I wrote originally concerning "popularity" is true: the Mac platform simply is not as popular as the PC; otherwise, I'm sure there would be an incentive for Slysoft (and a lot of other companies) to produce software for Macs. Apparently the poll though isn't based on general popularity, but rather, readership on that site.

Mactheripper is obviously a boon to Mac users, and I certainly hope development isn't completely killed.


Also, saying that mactheripper hasnt been updated since 2005 is a slightly inaccurate statement. MTR was last updated on 1/10/08

Yes, you're right; thank you for catching my typo. But I wasn't confused.

But as far as conquering protection schemes goes, it does this just as effectively as AnyDVD.


Are you sure about that? The reason I made that statement is because I have a friend who is a Mac user, and he uses nothing other than Mactheripper. He constantly complains to me that it hasn't been updated this year and can't handle a number of newer dvds that he's tried. He's considering getting Anydvd as a result. He's not a neophyte either.

If what you're saying is true, then quite clearly I'm blatantly wrong.

Edit: I am blatantly wrong. I asked my friend to clarify, and he said that there's just a bunch of extra things the user needs to figure out on his own, and he is complaining that Mactheripper needs to be updated to be more user-friendly.

So, it does seem that Mactheripper is actually a very powerful program. My apologies to Mactheripper fans. I am obviously wrong.
 
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Edit: I am blatantly wrong. I asked my friend to clarify, and he said that there's just a bunch of extra things the user needs to figure out on his own, and he is complaining that Mactheripper needs to be updated to be more user-friendly.

Which is precisely what i meant by the following statement:

I've recently decided to purchase and use AnyDVD and CloneDVD for my ripping purposes ..... cause it works with far less steps and hoops to jump through than does MTR.

One of mactherippers biggest downfalls is that, if your not someone who is willing to read whats going on in their forum on a pretty regular basis, you may run into alot of issues. You need to self-educate in a way. As a member of their forum, i can attest to the fact a majority of the people who post what they consider to be major questions/problems with the software, are typically people who simply arent willing to read.

Being a part of the slysoft forum and using their product, is a breath of fresh air for a person coming from the mac end of ripping. AnyDVD and CloneDVD, I have found, really involve very little user research and homework. I've only had to post about one problem. And it was resolved in less than a few hours. The reason MTR is the way it is, is because, like i mentioned, its ONE guy, doing it all. That being considered, the program has done a pretty impressive job of keeping up with its competitors.

But this isnt and MTR praising post, I hope its not taken that way. Im here in this forum, and purchashed AnyDVD and CloneDVD for a reason. It's simple to use! And fast!

Thanks.
 
But this isnt and MTR praising post, I hope its not taken that way.

Actually, I'm glad you posted, because I learned something new. So, thank you

I also don't really care: people are free to use what they want, obviously.

Clearly, though, as a decrypter, Anydvd HD does do more than what was listed, and the fact that it was left out of that poll is just mind-boggling (but I suppose can be explained by the readership that visits that site).
 
[Did the person who created the poll fall asleep a few years ago and just wake up?

I realize this post was meant to be sarcastic and all but, the first paragraph of the article, makes it pretty clear that the poll actually wasnt "created" by anyone, but merely the author listing what users had said were their favorites.

Lifehacker said:
"On Tuesday we asked you to share your favorite DVD ripping tools; today we've sifted through hundreds of comments to bring you the five most popular answers."
 
One thing you should understand about Lifehacker: the users there are looking for one thing in their software - no cost!

Whenever Gina publishes a blogpost about a commercial product, the user comments are almost exclusively whining and complaining that it actually costs money and that they only want to hear about FREE applications!
 
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