I commute an hour a day, half an hour each way, and would absolutely LOVE to have a car that drove itself while I read a book. And NO, I don't like audiobooks.
See the example of Baen books above. There's a company that hasn't worried about "pirates," gives its content away for free, and greatly profits from that experience.
Some content. And they don't cripple any of it. The result is happy customers, myself included, who have a battlesteel-bound loyalty to them and theirs.
I remember the day I got a (NON-spam, I had consented freely) email from Baen's webmaster announcing the existence of electronic Advance Reader Copies(eARCs) of not-yet-available books and being told (as I recall it) "We appreciate our loyal fans, and we want to take advantage of you." I was too busy laughing like hell to do anything for the next five minutes.
Then I said "Yes! Take advantage of me!", went over to the site, and paid for my first eARC.
For some reason, you don't seem to see these types of actions from the companies who aren't freaked out about piracy -- but perhaps that's because they know the way to succeed is to offer a better customer experience and more value, rather than worrying so much.
Baen still gets some piracy, but not nearly as much as the publishers who lock up(or out) their customers with Digital Consumer Disablement technologies. In addition, a lot of the people who come across their stuff free seem to end up going over and buying it, treating it as a "free sample."
I understand from the publisher that they are one of the few firms showing "modest gains" in an otherwise shrinking market for books. And they're actually (gasp) making money on the electronic books.
Me, I haven't bought much from other SF publishers in years, but I have paid-for copies of literally everything they've offered since December 1999.
Murphy's Law is commonly stated: "Whatever can go wrong will go wrong." That is incorrect. It should be: "Whatever can go wrong may go wrong." Of course, if you persist in walking through mine fields...
They once asked one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts what he did during the long holds in the countdowns. His reply: "I look at the panel in front of me, reminding myself that each and every component of it was built by the lowest bidder."
They're permanently in my killfile (and apparently a lot of other people's) as well, for the "rootkit" episode. Until they regard MY computer as MY property, I will continue to blacklist them and all their works.
Simple: If they admitted his methods and tactics are an abuse of process and of the legal system, a lot of other lawyers might have to be examined for the same thing.
Lawyers are NOT going to admit one of there brethren might be just a wee bit frivolous because it might lay them open to similar charges. For example, the RIAA's thugs.
They think of their stuff as their BRAND of books. Does Coke mention Pepsi (or vice versa). Besides, if the users (horrors!) use Google to search, they might find something better than the crud a lot of them turn out, and then they'd (bigger horrors!) LOSE SALES!
Let's see, this is the same trusted newspaper that sat on the story of Stalin's "genocide by starvation" in the Ukraine. Mocked and reviled Dr. Robert Goddard (the developer of liquid-fuel rocketry) as "not knowing basic physics." And has spent a huge chunk of the past 155 years running roughshod over any inconvenient facts that don't fit into whatever ideology it has embraced.
AKA blackmail. Google made a serious mistake paying off an entertainment company and setting a precedent. "Once you pay danegeld, you never get rid of the Dane."
Both Google and the GBITEI (Greedy Bastards In The Entertainment Industry) are going to end up cursing that day.
And they asked me how I did it, and I gave 'em the Scripture text,
"You keep your light so shining a little in front o' the next!"
They copied all they could follow, but they couldn't copy my mind,
And I left 'em sweating and stealing a year and a half behind.
I've used a Palm or its successors since 2000 with no problems. And since Baen doesn't load their stuff with Consumer Rights Aren't Permitted, I can roll my own format that works for me.
On the post: 'Autonomous' Driving Could Turn The Old-Fashioned Kind Into A Hobby
Thrill of driving... Bah! Humbug!
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GPS-based?
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Two Terrifying Words
On the post: What An Online Bank Run Looks Like
Error message
"401K money not found"
On the post: Why Did NBC Make Life Harder For People Who Want To Buy Its Content?
Re: Re: Downloading illegal copies is still wrong
Some content. And they don't cripple any of it. The result is happy customers, myself included, who have a battlesteel-bound loyalty to them and theirs.
I remember the day I got a (NON-spam, I had consented freely) email from Baen's webmaster announcing the existence of electronic Advance Reader Copies(eARCs) of not-yet-available books and being told (as I recall it) "We appreciate our loyal fans, and we want to take advantage of you." I was too busy laughing like hell to do anything for the next five minutes.
Then I said "Yes! Take advantage of me!", went over to the site, and paid for my first eARC.
They Do It Right.
On the post: Why Did NBC Make Life Harder For People Who Want To Buy Its Content?
Which pretty much explains Baen Books
Baen still gets some piracy, but not nearly as much as the publishers who lock up(or out) their customers with Digital Consumer Disablement technologies. In addition, a lot of the people who come across their stuff free seem to end up going over and buying it, treating it as a "free sample."
I understand from the publisher that they are one of the few firms showing "modest gains" in an otherwise shrinking market for books. And they're actually (gasp) making money on the electronic books.
Me, I haven't bought much from other SF publishers in years, but I have paid-for copies of literally everything they've offered since December 1999.
On the post: Law Firm Freaks Out That Ridiculous Corporate Song Leaked Out To Blogs
Re: Seriously
On the post: Blame Murphy's Law, Excessive Hubris For Blackouts In SF
Murphy's Law - a correction
Quoted from The Signature of God by John Dalmas
On the post: Frustration Soars As Airline Switches To Call Center For Support
Old, old problem
Hawaiian Airlines obviously never heard of this.
On the post: EA Boss Admits: We Have A Problem
"Lack of creativity" not Sony's only problem
On the post: Stick A Fork In Palm
[sarcasm] Great! [/sarcasm]
On the post: Playstation Creator Steps Down From Sony
What's needed at Sony?
On the post: Thailand The Latest Country To Ban Entire YouTube Over Single Video
Nobody learns from somebody else's mistakes.
On the post: Jack Thompson's Latest Suit Ridiculous By Even His Standards
Why does he get away with it?
Lawyers are NOT going to admit one of there brethren might be just a wee bit frivolous because it might lay them open to similar charges. For example, the RIAA's thugs.
On the post: Publishing Houses Think That Expensive, Fragmented And Limited Book Search Is Better Than Letting Google And Amazon Do It?
Loss of BRAND
Follow the money.
On the post: Will The NY Times Still Have A Print Edition In Five Years?
"Trusted" source of news?
"Trusted"? Feh!
On the post: The Electric DMCA Slide Into The Ridiculous Zone
He's read the RIAA manual.
On the post: Viacom Says No More YouTube Clips
Danegeld
Both Google and the GBITEI (Greedy Bastards In The Entertainment Industry) are going to end up cursing that day.
On the post: Yahoo's Big Miss Further Demonstrates That Competing Requires More Than Just Copying
Kipling had it right long ago...
On the post: HarperCollins Continues To Focus On Digitizing Books; But Still Having Trouble Letting Go Of Control
Re: Thanks!
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