Many companies go in the opposite direction because they aren't run by people who love what they put out. They're run by lawyers, executives and accountants, not people to whom the users are anything other than anonymous "consumers."
To such people, the consumer is nothing more than an annoying blob whose sole justification for existence is to cough up cash for whatever the company puts out, whether it's light bulbs or movies.
And so such companies simply can't be bothered with anything as unimportant as "people."
And when you come down to it, their monopoly on those pipes is the ONLY thing they have to supply. They have no clue about value-added services and never have.
It's a situation similar to the history of the railroads, which saw their business as railroads and not transportation.
And yes, in the long run, the Great Cluebat of the Market will intersect with their skulls.
Superior for Hollywood, at least in the short term before the peasants revolt. However, for the rest of us (the peasants) ... obviously World Domination is not so good.
Imagine a Hollywood Executive stamping on a human face ... forever.
It's been conclusively demonstrated that the government can seize and destroy your data on nothing more than an accusation that some party or parties unknown, with whom you have no accusation, have been using the service to "infringe." You can be cut off from your backups, records (in the data/information/paperwork sense), without so much as a warrant against YOU, and that data will be destroyed even before any trial, if there ever is one.
Cloud computing has crashed before it ever really left the runway.
It's all about getting the monthly phone bill back to where it was before IP destroyed their pricing model. So they charge us for the pipe and when we use it they create an artificial scarcity ( sound familiar? ).
That's a nice internet connection you got. Be a shame if anything happened to it.
Neither Stupidity Nor Hubris Are Limited to Lawmakers
To quote from your earlier post re: regulation and the Economist:
One is hubris. Many lawmakers seem to believe that they can lay down rules to govern every eventuality.
The transportation secretary has the same "There oughta be a law." attitude and makes the usual fatuous assumption that people will act the way he wants them to just because there's a law.
This reminds me of one of the stupidest statements in movie history.
From "Men in Black" where Agent K is explaining things to the rookie and shows him a silvery disc about the size of a dime and says "It's going to replace the CD. Looks like I'll have to buy The White Album" again."
The streaming will be back when the rightsholder notices that one or two dozen people actually bothered to buy the movie who hadn't already done so.
Is there any movie that can't be waited for, given how many movies are available? If you can't see "The Bodyguard", there are bunchteen others, either already in your collection, buyable or streamable.
And finally, for those who are starting to get sick to their stomachs at the thought of giving Hollywood so much as a penny, better alternatives are available.
From the Annals of Tacitus, Book III, 27: And now bills were passed, not only for national objects but for individual cases, and laws were most numerous when the commonwealth was most corrupt.
Baen books was run by Jim Baen. He was an editor, *and* a bibliophile *and* a reader *and* a fan. He was, to put it in short form, one of US, not one of THEM.
Here I must define "THEM." "They" are the executives, accountants, lawyers who actually run the business end of things. It doesn't matter to them whether they're selling books or diapers. Their concerns are cash flow, costs, and profit. The product and the customer response to it are secondary concerns. And, like the music industry, their customer base is Target, Wal-Mart, etc. etc.
Mention "connect with fans", and the response will inevitably be "That's the slaves' ... er ... authors' job."
Baen got it because Baen was (and is) run by someone who loves books and stories.
When Baen started Webscriptions (eBooks) back in 1999-2000, it got me back into reading after a several year hiatus. I could take the books, turn them into the format I wanted to read (plaintext plus _italics_) and read them comfortably in my PalmPilot.
Because Baen treated me not as a faceless blob but as a friend and supporter, they got my unswerving and utter loyalty as a customer. I buy every eBook bundle they bring out (there's a new five-book bundle by Charles Sheffield out today), and I buy a treeware copy of every new book they bring out and donate it to the Berkeley Public Library to help expose the books to new addic ... er ... fans. :)
To use an expression from one of their new books, Guardian of Night, Thrive Baen!!!
Re: Re: Re: Re: Maybe we should all shut up about this...
If the consumers get screwed, it's because they're willing to put up with this maulk. I don't have to buy any book I really want to read. There's this invention called a Public Library.....
The "Big Six" became my enemies the day they forced cancellation of my already-accepted eBook preorder at $8, removed the availability of that and a bunch of other books from the site, and made it available solely through the Amazon-B&N Duopoly at the fixed price of $12.
My eBook buying dropped from over $2K/year to < $200 anywhere but Baen and Harlequin, where I buy everything the former brings out, and whatever of the latter interests me.
Making your customers hate your guts is a lousy business model.
On the post: Game Developer Takes 7-Year-Old Kid's Lego Design And Puts It Into The Game As A Birthday Present
Simple Answer
To such people, the consumer is nothing more than an annoying blob whose sole justification for existence is to cough up cash for whatever the company puts out, whether it's light bulbs or movies.
And so such companies simply can't be bothered with anything as unimportant as "people."
On the post: Only Hollywood Would Think That This 'Disc To Digital' Program Makes Sense
Is there something in Los Angeles water?
Would I put up with this crap?
On the post: Mobile Carriers Don't Want To Give Up SMS Without A Fight
The Telecoms' Fear In One Sentence
And when you come down to it, their monopoly on those pipes is the ONLY thing they have to supply. They have no clue about value-added services and never have.
It's a situation similar to the history of the railroads, which saw their business as railroads and not transportation.
And yes, in the long run, the Great Cluebat of the Market will intersect with their skulls.
On the post: Who Cares If Piracy Is 'Wrong' If Stopping It Is Impossible And Innovating Provides Better Solutions?
Re: Re: Re: Superioso!
On the post: Who Cares If Piracy Is 'Wrong' If Stopping It Is Impossible And Innovating Provides Better Solutions?
Re: Re: Where's hollywood's superior alternative?
Imagine a Hollywood Executive stamping on a human face ... forever.
On the post: Who Cares If Piracy Is 'Wrong' If Stopping It Is Impossible And Innovating Provides Better Solutions?
IP Advocates == Spoiled Children
And these guys and girls are *technically* grownups and allowed to vote? Sheesh!
On the post: Has The Megaupload Shutdown Been Good For The Entertainment Industry?
Did enormous damage without helping Hollywood.
It's been conclusively demonstrated that the government can seize and destroy your data on nothing more than an accusation that some party or parties unknown, with whom you have no accusation, have been using the service to "infringe." You can be cut off from your backups, records (in the data/information/paperwork sense), without so much as a warrant against YOU, and that data will be destroyed even before any trial, if there ever is one.
Cloud computing has crashed before it ever really left the runway.
On the post: Sony Music Exec: The Internet Is Full Of Opportunities & Not A Problem; Intransigent Collection Societies, However...
Awwww. Poor Wittle Sony Exec
On the post: Study Confirms What You Already Knew: Mobile Data Throttling About The Money, Not Stopping Data Hogs
Re: You don't need studies
That's a nice internet connection you got. Be a shame if anything happened to it.
On the post: New Rules To Block 'Distracted Driving' Will Likely Make Things Worse, Not Better
Neither Stupidity Nor Hubris Are Limited to Lawmakers
One is hubris. Many lawmakers seem to believe that they can lay down rules to govern every eventuality.
The transportation secretary has the same "There oughta be a law." attitude and makes the usual fatuous assumption that people will act the way he wants them to just because there's a law.
On the post: Recording Industry Can't Wait To Start Kicking People Offline In France For Listening To Their Favorite Songs
Re: I for one
From "Men in Black" where Agent K is explaining things to the rookie and shows him a silvery disc about the size of a dime and says "It's going to replace the CD. Looks like I'll have to buy The White Album" again."
On the post: Universal Music Album Recalled... For Infringing Content?
Who Will Pay For Thi$ Mii$take?
On the post: Streaming Rights On Whitney Houston Movie NOT Pulled In Order To 'Make Really A Large Amount Of Money On DVD Sales' [Updated]
Who cares?
Is there any movie that can't be waited for, given how many movies are available? If you can't see "The Bodyguard", there are bunchteen others, either already in your collection, buyable or streamable.
And finally, for those who are starting to get sick to their stomachs at the thought of giving Hollywood so much as a penny, better alternatives are available.
On the post: How Much Is Enough? We've Passed 15 'Anti-Piracy' Laws In The Last 30 Years
Ah, yes. Nobody learns from history.
This has been shortened to a common saying:
The more corrupt the state, the more laws.
On the post: How Publishers Repeated The Same Mistake As Record Labels: DRM Obsession Gave Amazon Dominant Position
Re: One publisher clearly gets it...
Baen books was run by Jim Baen. He was an editor, *and* a bibliophile *and* a reader *and* a fan. He was, to put it in short form, one of US, not one of THEM.
Here I must define "THEM." "They" are the executives, accountants, lawyers who actually run the business end of things. It doesn't matter to them whether they're selling books or diapers. Their concerns are cash flow, costs, and profit. The product and the customer response to it are secondary concerns. And, like the music industry, their customer base is Target, Wal-Mart, etc. etc.
Mention "connect with fans", and the response will inevitably be "That's the slaves' ... er ... authors' job."
Baen got it because Baen was (and is) run by someone who loves books and stories.
When Baen started Webscriptions (eBooks) back in 1999-2000, it got me back into reading after a several year hiatus. I could take the books, turn them into the format I wanted to read (plaintext plus _italics_) and read them comfortably in my PalmPilot.
Because Baen treated me not as a faceless blob but as a friend and supporter, they got my unswerving and utter loyalty as a customer. I buy every eBook bundle they bring out (there's a new five-book bundle by Charles Sheffield out today), and I buy a treeware copy of every new book they bring out and donate it to the Berkeley Public Library to help expose the books to new addic ... er ... fans. :)
To use an expression from one of their new books, Guardian of Night, Thrive Baen!!!
On the post: How Publishers Repeated The Same Mistake As Record Labels: DRM Obsession Gave Amazon Dominant Position
Re:
On the post: How Publishers Repeated The Same Mistake As Record Labels: DRM Obsession Gave Amazon Dominant Position
Re: Re: Re: Re: Maybe we should all shut up about this...
On the post: How Publishers Repeated The Same Mistake As Record Labels: DRM Obsession Gave Amazon Dominant Position
Re: Re: Edit
Yes.
On the post: How Publishers Repeated The Same Mistake As Record Labels: DRM Obsession Gave Amazon Dominant Position
Re: Re: Maybe we should all shut up about this...
My eBook buying dropped from over $2K/year to < $200 anywhere but Baen and Harlequin, where I buy everything the former brings out, and whatever of the latter interests me.
Making your customers hate your guts is a lousy business model.
On the post: How Publishers Repeated The Same Mistake As Record Labels: DRM Obsession Gave Amazon Dominant Position
Maybe we should all shut up about this...
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