I have a friend who is a raving Tori Amos fan. He buys all of her CD's, goes to every concert he is able to and gets as much merchandise of her as is *sane* to do so. (sane defined in non-stalkerish terms)
If Tori were in any kind of financial trouble, I am confident that my friend would send her a check for 50$ every month (if not more) in order that she might continue to produce music.
Her ability to produce music is thusly assured (from a financial standpoint) whether or not all of the record companies in creation were to simultaneously implode, or become incredibly rich.
I myself have purchased several CD's from MP3.com in the (perhaps naive) belief that I was supporting the artist.
I think that in our "generation of culture and content pirates" 99% of us pirates have or will support the artists (and programmers) that give us the media that we so adore.
What we may be seeing are the death throes of a business entity (or bizenty as I wish it to be forever refered to) which has found the once abundant green leafy consumers suddenly being gobbled up by a more efficient and utterly, beautifully relentless new beastie (with pixie wings).
It's just evolution.
Begin Rampant Speculation:
Ultimately, this seems to be one of the first events in a new 'revolution' in our society. The sixties can be viewed as a time when the very foundations of our societies beliefs were questioned by a young and highly liberal (excuse my liberal use of the word liberal) new generation. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the revolution of the sixties fell short of the goals I believe it strode for.
Perhaps the problem was that they didn't neccessarily have a viable replacement for the old ways that they were trying to get rid of.
Begin Free Space Rant
I believe that maybe all media and ideas should be free, in the sense that this old symbolic system (money) may be out of date. There is no real physical reason for them not to be, the only reasons left lie in the-way-we-used-to-and-are-used-to-doing-things area.
If I see your idea, then I may get inspired and create one of my own. If I display it publicly and allow all to view it for free, then other's may be inspired as well.
We may see an exponential leap in humanities collective intelligence and creative achivements. Perhaps if we *finally* get into space exploration, where energy is more abundant, and raw materials can be found easily (without digging up fragile and vital ecosystems), matter and the means of production may become cheap enough that all devices and technologies become practically free. (read Stephenson's book "The Diamond Age")
Slashdot Mirror
I have a friend who is a raving Tori Amos fan. He buys all of her CD's, goes to every concert he is able to and gets as much merchandise of her as is *sane* to do so. (sane defined in non-stalkerish terms)
If Tori were in any kind of financial trouble, I am confident that my friend would send her a check for 50$ every month (if not more) in order that she might continue to produce music.
Her ability to produce music is thusly assured (from a financial standpoint) whether or not all of the record companies in creation were to simultaneously implode, or become incredibly rich.
I myself have purchased several CD's from MP3.com in the (perhaps naive) belief that I was supporting the artist.
I think that in our "generation of culture and content pirates" 99% of us pirates have or will support the artists (and programmers) that give us the media that we so adore.
What we may be seeing are the death throes of a business entity (or bizenty as I wish it to be forever refered to) which has found the once abundant green leafy consumers suddenly being gobbled up by a more efficient and utterly, beautifully relentless new beastie (with pixie wings).
It's just evolution.
Begin Rampant Speculation:
Ultimately, this seems to be one of the first events in a new 'revolution' in our society. The sixties can be viewed as a time when the very foundations of our societies beliefs were questioned by a young and highly liberal (excuse my liberal use of the word liberal) new generation. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the revolution of the sixties fell short of the goals I believe it strode for.
Perhaps the problem was that they didn't neccessarily have a viable replacement for the old ways that they were trying to get rid of.
Begin Free Space Rant
I believe that maybe all media and ideas should be free, in the sense that this old symbolic system (money) may be out of date. There is no real physical reason for them not to be, the only reasons left lie in the-way-we-used-to-and-are-used-to-doing-things area.
If I see your idea, then I may get inspired and create one of my own. If I display it publicly and allow all to view it for free, then other's may be inspired as well.
We may see an exponential leap in humanities collective intelligence and creative achivements. Perhaps if we *finally* get into space exploration, where energy is more abundant, and raw materials can be found easily (without digging up fragile and vital ecosystems), matter and the means of production may become cheap enough that all devices and technologies become practically free. (read Stephenson's book "The Diamond Age")
What would we have to pay for then?