A Sad Day For Innovation....

[Tichy]

@Smithy2501: A agree, and that's another confirm to my idea that it's mostly a psychologial and organizational problem.
Or, better, copying and sharing (and free software, btw) is political matter, because it must deal with a society based upon private property.

[Disembodied]

I think that the "one download = one unsold copy" equation that many people (and most vendors) do is wrong.
I would never have bought almost 20 CDs of Klaus Schulze, Popol Vuh, or Stephan Micus if I hadn't had the possibility to download their album. I would have never been interested in them.

I agree, and it's why a lot of artists and authors release free versions alongside of there albums, books, whatever. I don't, however, believe that this is a reason for legitimizing piracy. I think most of the problem has to do with an over inflated sense of self entitlement. The same thing happens on the roads, people bitching and moaning and tailgating other drivers for sticking to the speed limit because they feel entitled to go faster, or watching pawn shows on T.V. where people go into the store demanding certain prices for their items then abusing the staff if they don't get it. I'm not saying that people have no rights, I just believe that there is a line that many people cross. I think that there are plenty of ways to promote free content without having to rely on piracy to get your product out there.

Very true - the Baen Free LIbrary is a good example of free distribution producing later sales. But you're right, this definitely does not legitimise piracy: the authors on Baen chose to make their work freely available.

For software, shareware is a good model, and seems to work well - at least at what might be called the "artisan" level: small-scale programmers and companies, making often very good games and other software, and enjoying a modest success. It's never going to get to the global blockbuster level, though - although perhaps that says more about the taste of the mass market than anything else. The best authors are never the bestselling authors.

[Cody]

The Baen Free Library is an excellent thing.

The best authors are never the bestselling authors.

Ain't that the truth!

[Diziet Sma]

Here in Aus,

Hey! Another Aussie!

Whereaboutsareya, mate? Melbourne, here..

[Smithy2501]

@Smithy2501: A agree, and that's another confirm to my idea that it's mostly a psychologial and organizational problem.
Or, better, copying and sharing (and free software, btw) is political matter, because it must deal with a society based upon private property.

Glad we can agree! I was worried that I was coming across as a narrow minded, pretentious (part of the male anatomy!)

For software, shareware is a good model, and seems to work well - at least at what might be called the "artisan" level: small-scale programmers and companies, making often very good games and other software, and enjoying a modest success. It's never going to get to the global blockbuster level, though - although perhaps that says more about the taste of the mass market than anything else. The best authors are never the bestselling authors.

Too true! It was through Drew's awesome Oolite stories that I found Oolite

Hey! Another Aussie!

Whereaboutsareya, mate? Melbourne, here..

I'm on the West Coast, bout 1.5hrs north of Perth, go the mighty Eagles!

Cheers,

Smithy

[maik]

Please don't think that this means that I feel DRM is the greatest thing since sliced bread …

<thread derailment imminent>Out of curiosity: am I the only person always wondering about this expression, because I find that sliced bread is actually not great at all? I prefer a whole loaf of bread from which I cut exactly as many slices as I'm needing right now, and keep the rest of it fresh and not drying out.

Same here. Shall we add wine to the derailment? It's been a long time

[Smithy2501]

Please don't think that this means that I feel DRM is the greatest thing since sliced bread …

<thread derailment imminent>Out of curiosity: am I the only person always wondering about this expression, because I find that sliced bread is actually not great at all? I prefer a whole loaf of bread from which I cut exactly as many slices as I'm needing right now, and keep the rest of it fresh and not drying out.

Same here. Shall we add wine to the derailment? It's been a long time

Hmm, not really a good combo wine and bread, wine goes better with cheese! Then again, so does bread for that matter

Cheers,

Smithy

[Cody]

... not really a good combo wine and bread...

Hmm... a quality red (preferably a Zinfandel) with a freshly-baked olive ciabatta is a pretty good combo.

[Smithy2501]

... not really a good combo wine and bread...

Hmm... a quality red (preferably a Zinfandel) with a freshly-baked olive ciabatta is a pretty good combo.

Well I confess my knowledge of wine is that it comes in red and white, and bread comes in white and brown with a few other variations thrown in for good measure!

Cheers,

Smithy

[Griff]

... not really a good combo wine and bread...

Hmm... a quality red (preferably a Zinfandel) with a freshly-baked olive ciabatta is a pretty good combo.

Don't let the Xbox One Kinect camera see you enjoying those, it'll lock you out of your games until it sees you choke down some Doritos and a Mountain Dew

[Cody]

... not really a good combo wine and bread...

Hmm... a quality red (preferably a Zinfandel) with a freshly-baked olive ciabatta is a pretty good combo.

Don't let the Xbox One Kinect camera see you enjoying those...

<chortles> No cameras in my house - nor any console stuff either!

[Smithy2501]

Don't let the Xbox One Kinect camera see you enjoying those, it'll lock you out of your games until it sees you choke down some Doritos and a Mountain Dew

"I'm sorry Dave, I can't let you drink that"

Cheers,

Smithy

[Darknirv]

I'm very happy that DRM has been scrapped, I simply couldn't see a truly legitimate to include it in the first place. As for disc and game usage, the xbox 360 has a great way of installing your game and then verifying ownership with the disc. This system doesn't seem broken enough to fix, the only adjustment I can see that could be justified would be to require the disc when gaming online with other people.

Why go through all that trouble to make a disc with a box and manual if it then sits on a shelf collecting dust, seems a waste of resources and money to me.

[Smithy2501]

Why go through all that trouble to make a disc with a box and manual if it then sits on a shelf collecting dust, seems a waste of resources and money to me.

This is true if you focus on physical media, even though I'm not currently in a position to use an all digital system I like the idea, and the ability to install and run my games from the HDD without swapping disks appeals to my lazy nature!

Cheers,

Smithy

[Darknirv]

Is it time to install toilets in front of the telly?

As I live in a two xbox 360 house, I see the short comings of pure digital gaming in it's current format. I own Minecraft 360 edition, would be nice to system link it between rooms, but no I need a Gold membership to do that