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Originally Posted by Fake51
Why would people ever be interested in DRM? It is, by definition, NEVER in their interests. The only parties that could ever gain from DRM are content creators and content owners.
There are some serious flaws in your above thinking. Why would you, as a content creator or owner, offer incentives to people in order to get them to use DRM'ed content but not non-DRM content? What do you stand to gain by having customers use one form rather than another? Nothing, as it happens. You stand to gain if people buy your content, irregardless of whether it comes with DRM or not.
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DRM itself is in no consumer's interests. But if the seller offers the consumer something special they will get by putting up with their DRM--like exclusive content, lower priced packages, etc--DRM becomes acceptable (assuming the customer agrees that the exclusive content is indeed special). The operative theory is, the more special or exclusive content a seller offers, the more they can charge for them... which justifies their use of DRM, to make sure someone who did not pay the premium charge can't get the premium content.
By that measure, there are a number of successful DRM and DRM-type systems out there... the Kindle store... cable and satellite television... etc.
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Originally Posted by Fake51
There is no such thing as acceptable DRM if there's a feasible alternative to DRM. The math is really very simple: why would I, as a consumer, put up with being treated like a second-rate citizen, when I can do what I want when I want? I'm the one with the money, I get to say how I spend it and what I get for it.
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Right... but "exclusive content" is in many cases enough for people to justify paying higher prices, and dealing with DRM. In the U.S., most men who hear the words "NFL Sunday Ticket" would understand what I mean.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fake51
I'm sorry for the rant but I really just don't get it.
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Actually, your thread indicates exactly why we're in this situation: E-books are a young commercial entity, there are a lot of methods to sell them being tried, and no one method has proven that much more effective than the others. When one selling method clearly rises to the top, and outsells the others hands-down, the entire industry will throw out everything else and go for that. until then, we have to put up with every selling trick under the sun, including DRM, and wait for the market to settle in and pick one.