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Originally Posted by HansTWN
No, a few people do not have the power to override everybody else. But we have not made a head count yet! I am a consumer only (no connection to authors, publishers, etc), and I prefer the pay-per-book method. So may many other consumers -- perhaps more than support your point of view.
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I think you miss my point. I totally support paying for the media I use. I think it's a
bad thing that authors and publishers will soon not be able to make money out of their work in the same way they do now. But my attitude is not going to stop the inevitible.
In a digital economy the current way is not a viable way to conduct business. It is based on supply and demand of physical objects. Younger generations already don't place value in most media because so much of it is available free, and what isn't free is easy to copy and distribute. The younger generations don't even consider copying content to be stealing. This is not necessarily bad morals but a paradigm shift. Is copying a file without damaging the original or costing the owner anything a
bad thing? The easy answer is 'yes', and I would agree. But that answer comes from a completely different mind set of physical property.
It may be that people will still buy digital media the way we do now on iTunes or Fictionwise in 10 years, but I doubt it. And I don't doubt it because I don't value the content, I doubt it because it's already happening. Musicians are turning away from making money on CDs and focusing their efforts on other things. Bands are increasingly experimenting with giving music away. This won't work exactly the same way for authors, but something similar will have to.
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Nothing is free, in the end you always wind up paying in some way. I prefer the easy and transparent way.
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You seem to be implying that I want all content to be free. I haven't expressed such an opinion.
You may prefer the easy and transparent way of paying, and so do I, but that doesn't change the fact that people won't pay the prices necessary for easily reproducible digital content in this fashion.
In a world where people can get whatever digital content they want easily and quickly and at no cost, do you see the digital content industries thriving by charging what they charge now?
How can publishers make money when they have no control over supply and demand? Our entire economy is built on supply and demand.
I don't claim to have the answer to that. I seriously doubt that acting as though supply and demand was still relevant (e.g. DRM) is going to be the answer.
This is a very complex and interesting topic.