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Author Topic: Piracy....  (Read 7889 times)

Spike

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Piracy....
« Reply #150 on: December 18, 2006, 05:06:56 PM »
Quote from: TonyLB
Sorry, bad phrasing on my part.  Not "on the business end, as opposed to the consumer end."  More like "On the business end of a rifle ... i.e. the bits where the bullets come out, rather than the one from which you aim and shoot."

I'm on the business side of the equation too, and I haven't seen any signs that piracy is hurting my business.  But maybe other people are getting screwed much more thoroughly than I am.  I certainly don't have such a broad base of evidence that I can say "I'm absolutely certain that piracy is a non-issue!"  It would be disrespectful to the people who genuinely have been hurt (if any).

Does that make more sense as a distinction?



Not only that, but somehow I only managed to emphasis the BUT, when I wanted everything after it... Damn you Forum-fu, you are still weak and noodley...

I suspect that people aren't being hurt, business wise, Tony.  It is the perception of hurt, rather than actual pain. I'm recalled of a lesson taught to a child about how matches are still hot after they've blown out (as a means of convincing them not to play with matches)... light a match, blow it out, apply to child. Child will struggle and fight, allow this, as by the time the match head touches the child it is quite cool, harmless. The psychological message, however, is firmly ingrained: Matches hurt.

People get so caught up in fighting piracy that they neglect to see that it doesn't in fact hurt them.  And if, in fact it DOES hurt them, then they have failed as business men to adapt to the realities of the marketplace and discover a way to profit from it... as Baen Books does.

I really suggest people read the entire article, rather than stick with my quoted post. It does go into more depth... and argues almost verbatim what I have in here... and better in some places.

Libraries indeed. :pundit:
For you the day you found a minor error in a Post by Spike and forced him to admit it, it was the greatest day of your internet life.  For me it was... Tuesday.

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TonyLB

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Piracy....
« Reply #151 on: December 18, 2006, 05:21:47 PM »
Quote from: Spike
I suspect that people aren't being hurt, business wise, Tony.  It is the perception of hurt, rather than actual pain.
I suspect so as well, actually.  But I'm gonna wait on longer experience before I go any further than suspecting.

Quote from: Spike
I'm recalled of a lesson taught to a child about how matches are still hot after they've blown out (as a means of convincing them not to play with matches)... light a match, blow it out, apply to child. Child will struggle and fight, allow this, as by the time the match head touches the child it is quite cool, harmless.
This, however, ran so counter to my suspicions that I just went down to the kitchen to test it out.  Guess what?  That last bit?  The bit about the match head cooling down?  LIES.  Very, very hot.  Like, "Ah, DAMN!" hot.  Not at all like "Oh, that's just a psychological reaction to the heat I expected to feel hot.

No, I'm not going to hold it to my skin long enough to develop an actual burn, just to prove a point on the internet.  Don't tempt me :D

It is entirely possible that there is some more specific trick that would, indeed, end up with a cooled down match head.  But as written?  Not so much.  So hey, let's not suggest that parents do this to their kids, okay?  Particularly let's not suggest that they hold the match in place while the kid complains that he's being burnt, because they know better.
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Spike

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« Reply #152 on: December 18, 2006, 05:30:14 PM »
Quote from: TonyLB
I suspect so as well, actually.  But I'm gonna wait on longer experience before I go any further than suspecting.

This, however, ran so counter to my suspicions that I just went down to the kitchen to test it out.  Guess what?  That last bit?  The bit about the match head cooling down?  LIES.  Very, very hot.  Like, "Ah, DAMN!" hot.  Not at all like "Oh, that's just a psychological reaction to the heat I expected to feel hot.

No, I'm not going to hold it to my skin long enough to develop an actual burn, just to prove a point on the internet.  Don't tempt me :D

It is entirely possible that there is some more specific trick that would, indeed, end up with a cooled down match head.  But as written?  Not so much.  So hey, let's not suggest that parents do this to their kids, okay?  Particularly let's not suggest that they hold the match in place while the kid complains that he's being burnt, because they know better.



Obviously, you missed an important point, Tony. You have to struggle long enough that the match head DOES cool. Not so very long, really, but if you DON"T wait, yes it hurts for real.

Still, I shall now spend the rest of my day reveling in my power to make people go out and hurt themselves. ;)




For the record, I learned this one on the receiving end. It's quite effective, if a bit brutal.
For you the day you found a minor error in a Post by Spike and forced him to admit it, it was the greatest day of your internet life.  For me it was... Tuesday.

For the curious: Apparently, in person, I sound exactly like the Youtube Character The Nostalgia Critic.   I have no words.

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TonyLB

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Piracy....
« Reply #153 on: December 18, 2006, 05:38:39 PM »
Quote from: Spike
Obviously, you missed an important point, Tony. You have to struggle long enough that the match head DOES cool. Not so very long, really, but if you DON"T wait, yes it hurts for real.
Oh, now see, you really gotta be specific about that.  When you say "Light match, blow it out, apply to child" followed by description of how the child will struggle, it sounds (at least to me) like you're now talking about how they will struggle as you burn them.  Maybe "Light match, blow it out, attempt to apply to child," followed by "The child will struggle ... let them evade the match long enough for it to cool."

Quote from: Spike
Still, I shall now spend the rest of my day reveling in my power to make people go out and hurt themselves. ;)
Yeah, I was laughing about this one, as I did it, too.  I thought "Man, Spike's gonna get a kick out of the idea that he convinced me over the internet to torture myself."
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Spike

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« Reply #154 on: December 18, 2006, 05:58:49 PM »
Who said learning wasn't painful obviously never had a Pika for a teacher ;)
For you the day you found a minor error in a Post by Spike and forced him to admit it, it was the greatest day of your internet life.  For me it was... Tuesday.

For the curious: Apparently, in person, I sound exactly like the Youtube Character The Nostalgia Critic.   I have no words.

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