Quote:
Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan
Personally, I've never bought the idea that "the customer is always right," and real businesspeople know that is a sham (meant to placate the customers, of course). In business, the real slogan is "the profit is always right," and where repeat business means more profit, the customer should be made as happy as possible to ensure repeat business. That doesn't mean catering to a sense of entitlement, but it does mean making them as happy as possible about their purchase, in the hope that they'll show their appreciation by coming back.
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Marshall Field said it better: "Give the lady what she wants."
(I suppose the Steve Jobs amendment to that would be "even if she doesn't know she wants it".)
Piracy is a measurement tool. It tells us how successfully producers are satisfying the lady.
So what does the digital lady want? I don't think that she feels entitled to a free product. While we speak of her as having a sense of entitlement, I think it really involves a set of expectations
inherent in the digital environment. I think that most ladies feel entitled - i.e. expect - to have any digital product available:
(1) immediately
(2) at a reasonable price
(3) with a minimum of hassle
(4) in a format which works on her device
(5) for a one time payment
(6) in manner which does not impede sharing the product with friends
Any provider who violates one of these expectations courts piracy. (Some violations, more than others...)
I think ebook ladies have an additional expection. It does not involve entitlement to a free ebook. It is
(7) the
existence of an ebook.
This expectation seems peculiar to the book world, because the other product worlds are either inherently digital at this point (movies, games, music) or are inherently analog (art works).
Publishers violate Expectation 7 when they fail to produce ebook versions of their backlist volumes (also violates Expecation 1), or refuse to produce ebook versions of their current books (also Expectation 1), or produce the ebook version in a format (DRM) which limits distribution to a particular device (also Expectations 4, 5 and 6).
The creator or producer's
legal right to violate Expectation 7 is irrelevant. Ladies do not respect the right of a producer not to sell a product. Any publisher who insists on this is going to get pirated, based on the extent that the book is popular and (perversely) would support ebook sales.
I submit that any author or publisher who satisfies the lady's Seven Expectations will not face a significant piracy problem.