I think that the intended targets for sales may be the demographic you indicated, but I would raise the ages to 25 - 45, as college age and disposable income are not often together. Now, the people playing the game may spread well beyond this range, but all players are not purchasers. The pirated versions arent restricted to an age group, and those with the money to spend should be the focus of the marketers as potential sales. Ignoring the definite thieves is a valid business direction.
How many 14 year old boys dont play video games? How many of them have large disposable incomes?
The sales targeters need to understand that there are people that simply will not buy the product under any circumstance. These are not people that you market to or consider when designing. The people that you do care about are the people that will actually pay.
In the case of me, as I fit the target demographic, having DRM has convinced me to not buy several games as well as assist in creating and giving copies after having to defeat it to play my purchased copy. That should be important information. I am willing to buy, and believe that not buying is stealing, but will not buy if I am treated like a thief. The fact that I do not own spore is a lost sale.
The hypothetical Joe we are discussing never would have made any company (stardock or competitor) a single dime. If this person decides to use a copy or watch a movie on cable, they would never have purchased the game, so it is not a lost sale. The fact that they get to play dishonestly and for free is irrelevant as money was made by treating honest customers in a way that encourages them to hand over their money.
I agree that copying is stealing and believe the people responsible are thieving little creeps, but I challenge the assertion that Joe is a lost sale in your scenario.
Joe may be a little 14 year old pothead, with a $25 dollar allowance. Every two weeks he has enough cash to buy a bag, but has no money for games. Lets also say his parents dont buy him games to play. The fact that he enjoys video games means that he has to get them for $0 , or he doesnt play them. Now, playing a game and having interest in the game does not make him a lost sale, it just makes him a thief. There was never a point in time that he would even potentially have bought a disk. In a best case, his little pot-head buddies may enjoy the free version, but not have the will or knowledge to steal it (or more likely, have money or willing parets)... and these people may end up purchasing after playing the stolen "demo"
This is best case outcome, but Joe was never a potential purchase. I beleive this is why the article stated that the game was sold to the customers needs, not the pirates benefits.
This may be true. If linux were to have the same desktop market share, the default install would have to only create a root account, or give enough simplicity that every command assumes a no-password-needed sudo was already typed in. Also, all applications would run as this default root user.
This should create enough simplicity and "just works" to allow everyone's grandmothers to feel fully comfortable that Linux desktops could become amazingly commonplace.
These trade offs of ease for popularity would certainly allow any "hacker" to make swiss cheese of the boxes.
What "punishment"? I hope you are so unfortunate as to earn a six or seven figure income. Given all the benefits of wealth if the only cost is somewhat higher taxes then it is disingenuous to complain about such good fortune.
I can respond decently to this however. I do think that many of the people able to pull six figures have paid a cost. They made correct decisions early in life, and many of them give up time with their families for too much work.
This doesnt apply to all wealthy people, but I do think that as many people that have no chance to improve their financial position exist as people who are born into unending wealth that will never have to work a real day in their lives... so those groups nearly cancel out.
I have earned six figures ( even though I made many poor decisions early in life ) but now I would rather spend time raising my son then working 18 hours a day. I believe the advantages of wealth start much higher than most people think, and that wealth is not easily gotten in most cases.
nope, it is specified in the waterboarding for dummies guidebook. A suspect will immediately start talking, but that is only because they want you to stop. You must continue the process until you know that you are getting the truth. To get to the truth you simply count the times that the waterboarding is applied. Then thou must count to 183. 183 shall be the number of the counting and the number of the counting shall be 183. 184 shalt thou not count, neither shalt thou count 182, excepting that thou then proceedeth to 183. 185 is right out.
yes, except those only form on the spots that get the most contact. I used to walk barefoot all the time, and could even cross hot asphalt in south georgia in summer without flinching. I had a stupid human trick where I could easily crush out a cigarette with no pain at all... the callous was simply too think to feel anything. On occasion I would miss a thick spot and catch the cigarette between my toes... no callous = big blister and quite a bit of walking pain for a few days.
A small piece of protection for the tender bits makes some sense.
my fear is that he is minimally extending Bush policies. He ran on a promise to dissolve those policies, so even a minor extension is a drastic difference from original expectations. Repeal the shit already.
so you would rather allow your unfettered love for Obama release you from any responsibility of critical thought. The article goes right to the current DOJ claiming immunity from litigation. There was no hyperbole there, but your dismissal of the facts is disturbing in that there are many more than you who are refusing to believe that anything can be wrong with the administration because it isnt Bush anymore.
Deciding to keep the corrupt system intact now that you are in power is the problem. These politicians only despise the system while they are locked out, and work to ensure its survival once they hold the keys. Unfortunately too many people are not able to see this and keep making excuses for the current administration. I am scared of the people with wool pulled over their eyes.
Exactly. I flew yesterday, and only due to the potential charge did I carry on my bag. My laptop bag was packed to the gills also. So many people did this exact same thing that 9 or 10 of them had to check their carry on because there was no more room anywhere on the plane. The lack of space was verified by the flight attendants stalking the aisles for about 45 minutes re-arranging bags in the overhead bins.
I spent 1.5 hours boarding a flight that was in the air for 1.5 hours.
The policy may not seem self defeating to the execs, but I will not be a return customer on airlines that force this type of behavior.
Slashdot Mirror
I took this article to mean that not enough people in the city line their living space with tin foil .
It isnt impossible, it is actually fairly easy. The problem is that the re-certification process costs nearly as much as buying original product.
I think that the intended targets for sales may be the demographic you indicated, but I would raise the ages to 25 - 45, as college age and disposable income are not often together. Now, the people playing the game may spread well beyond this range, but all players are not purchasers. The pirated versions arent restricted to an age group, and those with the money to spend should be the focus of the marketers as potential sales. Ignoring the definite thieves is a valid business direction.
How many 14 year old boys dont play video games? How many of them have large disposable incomes?
The sales targeters need to understand that there are people that simply will not buy the product under any circumstance. These are not people that you market to or consider when designing. The people that you do care about are the people that will actually pay.
In the case of me, as I fit the target demographic, having DRM has convinced me to not buy several games as well as assist in creating and giving copies after having to defeat it to play my purchased copy. That should be important information. I am willing to buy, and believe that not buying is stealing, but will not buy if I am treated like a thief. The fact that I do not own spore is a lost sale.
The hypothetical Joe we are discussing never would have made any company (stardock or competitor) a single dime. If this person decides to use a copy or watch a movie on cable, they would never have purchased the game, so it is not a lost sale. The fact that they get to play dishonestly and for free is irrelevant as money was made by treating honest customers in a way that encourages them to hand over their money.
I agree that copying is stealing and believe the people responsible are thieving little creeps, but I challenge the assertion that Joe is a lost sale in your scenario.
Joe may be a little 14 year old pothead, with a $25 dollar allowance. Every two weeks he has enough cash to buy a bag, but has no money for games. Lets also say his parents dont buy him games to play. The fact that he enjoys video games means that he has to get them for $0 , or he doesnt play them. Now, playing a game and having interest in the game does not make him a lost sale, it just makes him a thief. There was never a point in time that he would even potentially have bought a disk. In a best case, his little pot-head buddies may enjoy the free version, but not have the will or knowledge to steal it (or more likely, have money or willing parets)... and these people may end up purchasing after playing the stolen "demo"
This is best case outcome, but Joe was never a potential purchase. I beleive this is why the article stated that the game was sold to the customers needs, not the pirates benefits.
AIX, Solaris, HP-UX, and dozens of others have long had their quirks.
How dare you . Solaris is the one true system!!! everyone else has quirks!
I would agree with you . That places us in the 2% share that doesnt find desktop linux cumbersome.
This may be true. If linux were to have the same desktop market share, the default install would have to only create a root account, or give enough simplicity that every command assumes a no-password-needed sudo was already typed in. Also, all applications would run as this default root user.
This should create enough simplicity and "just works" to allow everyone's grandmothers to feel fully comfortable that Linux desktops could become amazingly commonplace.
These trade offs of ease for popularity would certainly allow any "hacker" to make swiss cheese of the boxes.
Are you seriously arguing
nope, trolling
What "punishment"? I hope you are so unfortunate as to earn a six or seven figure income. Given all the benefits of wealth if the only cost is somewhat higher taxes then it is disingenuous to complain about such good fortune.
I can respond decently to this however. I do think that many of the people able to pull six figures have paid a cost. They made correct decisions early in life, and many of them give up time with their families for too much work.
This doesnt apply to all wealthy people, but I do think that as many people that have no chance to improve their financial position exist as people who are born into unending wealth that will never have to work a real day in their lives... so those groups nearly cancel out.
I have earned six figures ( even though I made many poor decisions early in life ) but now I would rather spend time raising my son then working 18 hours a day. I believe the advantages of wealth start much higher than most people think, and that wealth is not easily gotten in most cases.
brazilian bikini models with chainsaws !!!
nope, it is specified in the waterboarding for dummies guidebook. A suspect will immediately start talking, but that is only because they want you to stop. You must continue the process until you know that you are getting the truth. To get to the truth you simply count the times that the waterboarding is applied. Then thou must count to 183. 183 shall be the number of the counting and the number of the counting shall be 183. 184 shalt thou not count, neither shalt thou count 182, excepting that thou then proceedeth to 183. 185 is right out.
When someone is forced to pay proportionally more, do they also get proportionally more representation?
A rich person will already pay quite a bit more in if we were just using a sales tax. I never understand why there should be an extra punishment.
yes, except those only form on the spots that get the most contact. I used to walk barefoot all the time, and could even cross hot asphalt in south georgia in summer without flinching. I had a stupid human trick where I could easily crush out a cigarette with no pain at all... the callous was simply too think to feel anything. On occasion I would miss a thick spot and catch the cigarette between my toes... no callous = big blister and quite a bit of walking pain for a few days.
A small piece of protection for the tender bits makes some sense.
I tried, but there were no pictures, just words words words ...
lets use the government logic...
If they havent done anything wrong, then why shouldnt the case proceed? There will be nothing to discover.
it depends... are we talking about when a white lady gets killed?
my fear is that he is minimally extending Bush policies. He ran on a promise to dissolve those policies, so even a minor extension is a drastic difference from original expectations. Repeal the shit already.
so you would rather allow your unfettered love for Obama release you from any responsibility of critical thought. The article goes right to the current DOJ claiming immunity from litigation. There was no hyperbole there, but your dismissal of the facts is disturbing in that there are many more than you who are refusing to believe that anything can be wrong with the administration because it isnt Bush anymore.
If this is the case, is the system worth saving?
Deciding to keep the corrupt system intact now that you are in power is the problem. These politicians only despise the system while they are locked out, and work to ensure its survival once they hold the keys. Unfortunately too many people are not able to see this and keep making excuses for the current administration. I am scared of the people with wool pulled over their eyes.
you forgot to mention that he was given this mess, he didnt make it.
Exactly. I flew yesterday, and only due to the potential charge did I carry on my bag. My laptop bag was packed to the gills also. So many people did this exact same thing that 9 or 10 of them had to check their carry on because there was no more room anywhere on the plane. The lack of space was verified by the flight attendants stalking the aisles for about 45 minutes re-arranging bags in the overhead bins.
I spent 1.5 hours boarding a flight that was in the air for 1.5 hours.
The policy may not seem self defeating to the execs, but I will not be a return customer on airlines that force this type of behavior.
I find that standing up and dancing helps also. Everybody who listens to their earphones loudly loves a random bump and grind!
How is it the governments job to PARENT these kids?
great! Now I am a botnet zombie.
BRAAAAAIIIINNSSSSSS
The BIOS isnt protected because the guys in the black helicopters have been doing this for years.
Hell,
I
Just
Use
the
Enter
Key