Let Them Sell T-Shirts
from the arrogance dept
An interesting look at the Napster case from the standpoint of how bad it's making both sides look. Basically the article says that both the music industry and the technology industry are coming off as extremely arrogant in the case. While I agree that's true, I don't see it as bad as the columnist does. It's a case where both sides believe very strongly in what they're saying, and those viewpoints are in direct conflict with each other. It's only natural for each side to defend themselves strongly, as they have conviction in their beliefs. Yes, it may come off as arrogant, but at least they believe in what they're saying. Also, I don't think the case can be boiled down to the simple statements that are made in the article. There are a lot of very complex issues at stakes, and "let them sell t-shirts" is not a fair statement of Napster's point of view, while neither is the concept that the music industry "hates its customers".
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Since when...
Napster represents itself and a handful of pseudo-radical cyberpunk wannabes who can't get past the meaningless mantra of "Information Wants To Be Free" (also TM).
I guess I just don't get it. TechDirt is great at pointing out how stupid it is when people take an ordinary business, put it on Da Web, and call it "A New Revolution in E-Commerce" (yet another TM). Why does Napster get a break? People have been copying music for decades, Napster just "Brings the Power of The Internet" (TM again) to the process.
Also, what, exactly, was their business plan again? I keep forgetting how they intend to make a profit....
Finally, the Fortune writer describes the Recording Industry as the industry most hated by its clients. I guess no one ever told him about the "Smarmy Technology Pundit" category.
Ed Classic -- drawing flames since 1999 (TM, Pat. Pending)
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Re: Since when...
Oh, and as for Techdirt's ability to point out the sillyness of taking a standard business, putting it on the web, and calling it revolutionary, it runs in the family (see the comment below the post).
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Settle down...
I think part of being critical is not only recognizing bad ideas but also the good ones too... Maybe Compaq really will regain market share :P. (Or maybe Ryan just has some CPQ he wants to unload...)
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Re: Settle down...
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Re: Settle down...
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Keep it comin'
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