Technology is just as complicated to the young as to the old, but the young are raised in the environment, while the old try to understand it in terms of things that they already understand. The young learn the technology on its own terms, but the old may be impeded by what has gone before. A great example of this is the computer mouse. In initial tests, older people were picking up the mouse, pointing it at the monitor and clicking on the buttons as though it were a remote control. They were simply going by what they already knew.
There's advantages to both perspectives. On the one hand, no one under the age of 35 has their VCR blinking "12:00" at them all the time. On the other hand, we develop streamlined UI's and develop good OO-centric code.
It is obvious that the music industry is going through the biggest transition since the advent of recorded sound. Sharing certain files may be deemed "illegal" but I don't think that it would have been deemed illegal if a) the commodity was inexpensive to distribute, b) expensive to enforce controlled distribution, and c) if it was customary to distribute in this way.
The modern circumstance has shades of this. While the initial means of distribution can be controlled, after that, it's all about the police knocking on people's doors (or a cease & desist which implies that the police will come knocking). Ancient authors and singers (like Homer) had no control over their work after it passed their lips. It just wasn't cost effective to control it that way. An ancient would get paid for his initial singing of the material, but if someone happened to memorize his song, there was nothing he could do to stop that person from repeating it and passing it on.
However, we are inheriting laws from a time when this type of scheme was easily enforceable and the people who profited from the old system and who have the most to lose are fighting to prevent the system from changing. But the system has changed. Distribution is incredibly, mind-numbingly easy. Also, it will become increasingly difficult to enforce. People like the CD format because of the quality that it gives. Until (and unless) a significantly superior format comes out, a company that doesn't put their material on CD will not profit. However, this format also allows for easy distribution, and this will give this format a longevity unrivaled by any previous format. The consequence however, is that music is easier to trade now than ever before in history. And it will become increasingly more expensive to enforce under the laws of the old system.
In some ways, it seems that we may be heading backwards when copyright was really only the responsibility to give credit to somebody for their work.
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Technology is just as complicated to the young as to the old, but the young are raised in the environment, while the old try to understand it in terms of things that they already understand. The young learn the technology on its own terms, but the old may be impeded by what has gone before. A great example of this is the computer mouse. In initial tests, older people were picking up the mouse, pointing it at the monitor and clicking on the buttons as though it were a remote control. They were simply going by what they already knew.
There's advantages to both perspectives. On the one hand, no one under the age of 35 has their VCR blinking "12:00" at them all the time. On the other hand, we develop streamlined UI's and develop good OO-centric code.
It is obvious that the music industry is going through the biggest transition since the advent of recorded sound. Sharing certain files may be deemed "illegal" but I don't think that it would have been deemed illegal if a) the commodity was inexpensive to distribute, b) expensive to enforce controlled distribution, and c) if it was customary to distribute in this way. The modern circumstance has shades of this. While the initial means of distribution can be controlled, after that, it's all about the police knocking on people's doors (or a cease & desist which implies that the police will come knocking). Ancient authors and singers (like Homer) had no control over their work after it passed their lips. It just wasn't cost effective to control it that way. An ancient would get paid for his initial singing of the material, but if someone happened to memorize his song, there was nothing he could do to stop that person from repeating it and passing it on. However, we are inheriting laws from a time when this type of scheme was easily enforceable and the people who profited from the old system and who have the most to lose are fighting to prevent the system from changing. But the system has changed. Distribution is incredibly, mind-numbingly easy. Also, it will become increasingly difficult to enforce. People like the CD format because of the quality that it gives. Until (and unless) a significantly superior format comes out, a company that doesn't put their material on CD will not profit. However, this format also allows for easy distribution, and this will give this format a longevity unrivaled by any previous format. The consequence however, is that music is easier to trade now than ever before in history. And it will become increasingly more expensive to enforce under the laws of the old system. In some ways, it seems that we may be heading backwards when copyright was really only the responsibility to give credit to somebody for their work.