Well, I won't go into the philosophy of marketing make-up. Suffice to say I challenge anyone whose Big Mac has ever matched the one in the posters' pictures. This kind of talk always remind me of why it feels so right when Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchet portray Famine (horseman of the apocalypse) as a successful diet book writer =)
I think the numbers on TFA are very realistic/conceivable. A very important distinction must be made here on by what and how sales are affected. Let me analyse it the way I see it happening here in Brazil.
First, there is P2P and file-sharing by other means. I do believe that the impact of this would fall into this "under 1%" number. P2P and file-sharing to any worrysome level is dependent on a nice broadband conection, which is not exactly affordable by anyone. Also, there is the "Wow, this stuff I just downloaded is really cool, I'll buy their CD when I see it in the stores" factor. In general, being able to afford that broadband has some bearing upon the person's social status and possible upbringing meaning that they do tend to have some sort of this ethical sense/preocupation. Also, there is a sh*tload of users who view file-sharing as unaccessible magic, as ununderstable as mostly everything computer-related, and also as very dangerous, vis-a-vis the great publicity/impact of the Kazaa experience (virii and malware).
Second, there is proper piracy, enacted by organized groups, who duplicate copyrighted material to the thousands, and sell it to the general public for a fraction of the "offical" price. THIS is piracy and this will answer for a lot of those 74 million unsold albums. The source for this piracy could be either downloaded files or simply a copy of the officially realeased material, it makes no real difference to think either way (except of course for the "new" trend of 0-day releases, tele-syncs and such in this specific line of commerce). THIS piracy is the one that does the damage, this is the one which puts $2 CDs in the hands of the computer-illiterate, of people who just wouldn't be able to afford them to begin with, and then, of course, of those who come to the "if I can get this cheaper, why not?" conclusion.
This distinction becomes VERY clear when you move the focus outside the US market, where different social forces/pressures come into play. I do wish we could see that information on industry losses stratified geographically. That would surely give some insight on the issue.
Man... If we don't, perhaps we should. This is one of the best articles on the piracy-p2p-industry issue I have read in a loooong time. Kudos to the author!
Agreed. Piracy is what have ultimately enabled Windows' omnipresence mostly anywhere except in the US. Buy your Xing Ling computer and it comes fully set up with Windows, Office et al. Everyone gets used to Windows environment. No one switches. No possibility of getting a Mac into that market. Linux + Xing Ling would work but, as so often mentioned, people have to figure it out.
that is the one true reason why humanity should drop this whole feelings thing and embrace pr0n as the one true doctrine. With feelings, you lcck 5 friends in a room an soon they are not friends no more. With pr0n, just think what you'd get by locking 5 people in a room... =)
...This would need to have software support, I mean, actually moving into game programming and creating Spectator modes where, for instance, in an FPS you could get some sort of environment cameras that let you see players positioning themselves and what happens next, you could have overall stats been displayed which wouldn't be available to actual player view. I know I do get a kick from Lineage II videos of castle sieges and such. It's really good to watch and figure out strategy and the whole chaotic action all around. A true Spectator mode for this kind of stuff showing who's winnning, who died, giving a general view of the battlefield would be friggin' awesome to watch. But it is got to be rendered by the game itself, I don't want to see a guy hitting keys on a computer. Apart from this I think most games could be turned into spectator events.
Geez... Just adding some sad non-US consumer profile data.
I live in Brazil and only now, at the eve of the PS3, have I been able/willing to afford the bucks needed for a PS2 because prices have gone down a bit (current quotes from classic online merchants run at PS2=R$699, approx. US$350, and PS3=R$3.799, so approx. US$1.900, both US imports) Well, you get the idea... Stand-alone DVD players still have always been a much cheaper option here due to local manufacturing.
[sigh]
Don't even get me started on how much it costs to have a Mac around here...
Yup. I'll agree to that. My time on the PS2 is quite limited and sometimes I just want to finish the game up. I'm not really worried about the score/rank or such. I'm not fond of cheats though (invulnerabilty, infinite lives and such), but give me a walkthrough to get me past that one annoying puzzle I can't seem to get through after an hour or so and I'll take it. Also, I have no practical time to run through a game several times in order to unlock stuff, a la Tekken. I'll finish it up once or twice at most, but then, by all means, I want those unlock codes to even consider putting the disc back in the console. Not lazy, but practical gaming. Of course, online games are something completely different.
Slashdot Mirror
I for one welcome our 3-titted martian mistresses ;-)
Well, I won't go into the philosophy of marketing make-up. Suffice to say I challenge anyone whose Big Mac has ever matched the one in the posters' pictures. This kind of talk always remind me of why it feels so right when Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchet portray Famine (horseman of the apocalypse) as a successful diet book writer =)
Y'all forgets the one truest and greatest principle which rules our Universe: Murphy's Law.
Nuff said.
Well... you could always file in Form B319a and wait for the established authorities to call you back.
;-)
I think the numbers on TFA are very realistic/conceivable. A very important distinction must be made here on by what and how sales are affected. Let me analyse it the way I see it happening here in Brazil.
First, there is P2P and file-sharing by other means. I do believe that the impact of this would fall into this "under 1%" number. P2P and file-sharing to any worrysome level is dependent on a nice broadband conection, which is not exactly affordable by anyone. Also, there is the "Wow, this stuff I just downloaded is really cool, I'll buy their CD when I see it in the stores" factor. In general, being able to afford that broadband has some bearing upon the person's social status and possible upbringing meaning that they do tend to have some sort of this ethical sense/preocupation. Also, there is a sh*tload of users who view file-sharing as unaccessible magic, as ununderstable as mostly everything computer-related, and also as very dangerous, vis-a-vis the great publicity/impact of the Kazaa experience (virii and malware).
Second, there is proper piracy, enacted by organized groups, who duplicate copyrighted material to the thousands, and sell it to the general public for a fraction of the "offical" price. THIS is piracy and this will answer for a lot of those 74 million unsold albums. The source for this piracy could be either downloaded files or simply a copy of the officially realeased material, it makes no real difference to think either way (except of course for the "new" trend of 0-day releases, tele-syncs and such in this specific line of commerce). THIS piracy is the one that does the damage, this is the one which puts $2 CDs in the hands of the computer-illiterate, of people who just wouldn't be able to afford them to begin with, and then, of course, of those who come to the "if I can get this cheaper, why not?" conclusion.
This distinction becomes VERY clear when you move the focus outside the US market, where different social forces/pressures come into play. I do wish we could see that information on industry losses stratified geographically. That would surely give some insight on the issue.
Man... If we don't, perhaps we should. This is one of the best articles on the piracy-p2p-industry issue I have read in a loooong time. Kudos to the author!
Agreed. Piracy is what have ultimately enabled Windows' omnipresence mostly anywhere except in the US. Buy your Xing Ling computer and it comes fully set up with Windows, Office et al. Everyone gets used to Windows environment. No one switches. No possibility of getting a Mac into that market. Linux + Xing Ling would work but, as so often mentioned, people have to figure it out.
that is the one true reason why humanity should drop this whole feelings thing and embrace pr0n as the one true doctrine. With feelings, you lcck 5 friends in a room an soon they are not friends no more. With pr0n, just think what you'd get by locking 5 people in a room... =)
Well... that's supposing where you live in has such a broadcast signal...
...This would need to have software support, I mean, actually moving into game programming and creating Spectator modes where, for instance, in an FPS you could get some sort of environment cameras that let you see players positioning themselves and what happens next, you could have overall stats been displayed which wouldn't be available to actual player view. I know I do get a kick from Lineage II videos of castle sieges and such. It's really good to watch and figure out strategy and the whole chaotic action all around. A true Spectator mode for this kind of stuff showing who's winnning, who died, giving a general view of the battlefield would be friggin' awesome to watch. But it is got to be rendered by the game itself, I don't want to see a guy hitting keys on a computer. Apart from this I think most games could be turned into spectator events.
Geez... Just adding some sad non-US consumer profile data.
? i=1&par=emailacom&opn=UEXPXW ? i=1&par=emailacom&opn=UEXPXW
I live in Brazil and only now, at the eve of the PS3, have I been able/willing to afford the bucks needed for a PS2 because prices have gone down a bit (current quotes from classic online merchants run at PS2=R$699, approx. US$350, and PS3=R$3.799, so approx. US$1.900, both US imports) Well, you get the idea... Stand-alone DVD players still have always been a much cheaper option here due to local manufacturing.
[sigh]
Don't even get me started on how much it costs to have a Mac around here...
[longer sigh]
PS2 => http://www.americanas.com.br/prod/518731/Catalogo
PS3 => http://www.americanas.com.br/prod/579652/Catalogo
Yup. I'll agree to that. My time on the PS2 is quite limited and sometimes I just want to finish the game up. I'm not really worried about the score/rank or such. I'm not fond of cheats though (invulnerabilty, infinite lives and such), but give me a walkthrough to get me past that one annoying puzzle I can't seem to get through after an hour or so and I'll take it. Also, I have no practical time to run through a game several times in order to unlock stuff, a la Tekken. I'll finish it up once or twice at most, but then, by all means, I want those unlock codes to even consider putting the disc back in the console. Not lazy, but practical gaming. Of course, online games are something completely different.
...future ships floating on bubbles. I want warp drives. What is this? A new generation of engineers who watched My Little Pony instead of Star Trek?