E-books drive older women to digital piracy

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by Xanthe

Hell, I was in the first computer class my high school ever offered; we had to physically phone in to a mainframe at a college in Massachusetts - phone cradle, teletype and all - because no local colleges, or high schools for that matter, had one. Forget about Apples; those were still a gleam in Jobs' eye. I think we were part of the DTSS, and did our programming in Basic.

I remember visiting my dad's office during an open house and going down to the room where they did the punch cards that they used to make their programs machine-readable.

I'm sure some women not much older than I am worked with punch cards, too.

[sakura-panda]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Not everyone shops single-source. Not everyone CAN. There's more than a few ebooks out there that are only available through X supplier. Until Inkmesh came along (I only discovered it last month - until then, it did not exist in my world), Google was the only way to find the exclusive titles. And even then, you still want Google for comparative pricing.

For people with ad-block and strong virus software, there's a big old Internet out there - not just the Sony site.

I know; I was just saying that I don't think that everyone Googles, especially for titles that are commonly available (like the Emma example). Obviously if you've got a rare title in mind, that's one thing, but I really believe that most people will start with their favorite source before they expand their search into Google. (Maybe not around here though -- that might be a good poll!)

I'm not afraid of the internet and didn't meant to imply that I was. I just like to manage my purchases in one place and given my interests, I have the luxury of being able to (sort of) do that.

On the other hand, since I'm over thirty-five, I should just said I'm old and set in my ways and not going to go over to this new-fangled Google when I've got a perfectly good dedicated store that I've used since the day I got my first ebook reader.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by sakura-panda

I know; I was just saying that I don't think that everyone Googles, especially for titles that are commonly available (like the Emma example). Obviously if you've got a rare title in mind, that's one thing, but I really believe that most people will start with their favorite source before they expand their search into Google. (Maybe not around here though -- that might be a good poll!)

Perhaps I should have used a more obscure public domain title like "The Story of O"?

(If you don't know what I mean, don't google it because it's Not Safe For Work.)

[Enkidu of Abydos]

Originally Posted by spellbanisher

Some 29 per cent of e-reader owners of both genders and all ages admit piracy.

OMG ! OMG ! OMG ! OMG !
I almost fell off my chair from the shock !
Admitting piracy !? That's so horrible, at least as horrible as sexually molesting animals or cooking and eating children !
I can't describe to you how much this information interests me, at least as much as how many hairs a flee on the other side of the world has on it's back !
Oh please what bollocks , the media should be writing about how many children get killed every year in massacres by african warlords funded by western capitalists after their natural resources, not moaning about ridiculous theoretical "losses" of various media producers from piracy !
I read these invented astronomic figures in the newspapers so often you'd think every rockstar and movie actress out there has to be begging for food dressed in rags in some dark alley ! You'd think there are no REAL problems out there...

[Enkidu of Abydos]

Originally Posted by Ravensknight

Hot mature pirate babes? Man, life keeps getting better and better

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

arrrrRRRRhhhh!!!! and avast and sh*t

Oh, you mean like this ?








What can one say, but : "Arrrrrrrggghhhhh !"

[Enkidu of Abydos]

Originally Posted by Ivy

I can honestly say e-books have not driven me to digital piracy.

I can honestly say that too.
I was a dread pirate long before the era of e-books ! They just expanded my repertoire...

Originally Posted by sakura-panda

I really believe that most people will start with their favorite source before they expand their search into Google.

Definitely. There's one or two optimal sources for each type of media. Only naive people think Google is the main place to go to acquire things.

[Soldim]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

If you wake up one morning and think, "By god, I want me some 'Emma' ebook reading," you go to Google, plug in "Emma Jane Austen ebook", download one of the many free (legal) versions, and go your merry way.

What?!! You'd use Google first??

There's a more appropriate source!!

[leebase]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

The question not addressed: how many of them have downloaded ebooks that have a legit version available in their area?

Pirating the Harry Potter books is not damaging anyone's sales, because there are no digital versions to buy.

While it's true that "every pirated copy does not equate to a lost sale" -- it is NOT true that "pirated copies never result in lost sales".

A person who pirates an ebook could have bought the book (ebook or otherwise).

Of course -- there are those who buy a book and then aquire an ebook to read when an ebook is not legitimately available just because they prefer to read ebooks. I would not consider that piracy.

Lee

[leebase]

Originally Posted by carld

Really? I only know two people with digital copies, neither of them have the paper books. They both came late to the series and never bothered to buy the books, and neither one of them writes fanfic. Maybe they're unique, but I really doubt it.

I'd say your friends are far more the norm than fanfic writers.

Lee

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by leebase

While it's true that "every pirated copy does not equate to a lost sale" -- it is NOT true that "pirated copies never result in lost sales".

A person who pirates an ebook could have bought the book (ebook or otherwise).

Of course -- there are those who buy a book and then aquire an ebook to read when an ebook is not legitimately available just because they prefer to read ebooks. I would not consider that piracy.

Lee

A person who pirates an ebook could just as well have checked the book out of the library or bought it used if they are that frugal. Especially for bestsellers like the Harry Potter books--these generally turn up all over used book sales and libraries after a short time. I find I have to purchase the more midlist type books more often if I want to read them, because I cannot rely on them turning up at used book sales or the library--and now some aren't even in print at all, just digital.

[TGS]

Originally Posted by Enkidu of Abydos

Oh, you mean like this ?








What can one say, but : "Arrrrrrrggghhhhh !"

Shiver me timbers!

[leebase]

Originally Posted by Joykins

you may not know you're getting a pirate copy at Amazon but you darn well know it if you are getting it from downloadbooksforfreefrompirates.com (I made that URL up but there are plenty sort of like it). And as far as I know, not a whole lot legal is torrented except by accident--legal stuff is more simply obtained and often of better quality.

lol! "You Go Guuurl". All this smokescreen about folks not knowing they are stealing is just hogwash. Folks steal all the time when they think that nobody sees them and they can get away with it.

My own daughter had pirated music that I questioned her about. "It's free". Free?! Really?! You thought all this name brand, popular music that's sold in stores is "free on the internet".?

I wasn't upset that she pirated some music. I was upset that she would rather claim to be an idiot than fess up to stealing.

And one MIGHT be inclined to believe an 13yr old honor student is, in fact, really an idiot -- but the folks 35 and over surely are not.

All the rest of the copyright stuff is valid for sure. But the MAIN force in action is obvious. If you can take something with nobody seeing you take it, with no chance of getting caught, and HECK you are only taking a copy anyway -- then folks do it.

It's like trying to make the abortion debate about "what about the girls who's daddy's raped them" instead of "is abortion murder or not".

Lee

[leebase]

Originally Posted by Joykins

A person who pirates an ebook could just as well have checked the book out of the library or bought it used if they are that frugal. Especially for bestsellers like the Harry Potter books--these generally turn up all over used book sales and libraries after a short time. I find I have to purchase the more midlist type books more often if I want to read them, because I cannot rely on them turning up at used book sales or the library--and now some aren't even in print at all, just digital.

The difference is in the "all". I was merely objecting to the notion that piracy doesn't affect sales. I don't have to believe "all pirated copies reflect lost sales" to believe that "piracy affects sales". It need only be SOME sales lost to be true for my position.

Even your scenario can be shown to support the notion that piracy affects sales. As a kid, all my books came from the library, as gifts or from garage sales. When I became an adult with money of my own, I started buying books because it's a LOT more convenient to walk into a book store and buy a book, the specific book I want.

Piracy gives folks all the benefits of buying new. Quick, convenient, get exactly the book you want. Such that SOME purchasing will stop.

Lee

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by leebase

While it's true that "every pirated copy does not equate to a lost sale" -- it is NOT true that "pirated copies never result in lost sales".

A person who pirates an ebook could have bought the book (ebook or otherwise).

Of course -- there are those who buy a book and then aquire an ebook to read when an ebook is not legitimately available just because they prefer to read ebooks. I would not consider that piracy.

Lee

There are also people who buy other ebooks as a direct result of downloading one for free, or on recommendation from someone who has done so. But the vast majority of downloaders are just collecting files that they will never read. If their free source was cut off somehow, at best they would just buy one of the compilations of second hand ebooks that people sell on Ebay and elsewhere.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by Joykins

A person who pirates an ebook could just as well have checked the book out of the library or bought it used if they are that frugal. Especially for bestsellers like the Harry Potter books--these generally turn up all over used book sales and libraries after a short time.

Doing it that way would involve standing up and going outside, and even then there would be a risk that they don't have what you want. Isn't avoiding that the whole point of ebooks?