Quote:
Originally Posted by psyang
[One point the author alludes to but doesn't explicitly raise is that the cost of reproducing a song or a movie is almost nil, without any sacrifice in quality.
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The cost of reproduction isn't almost nil, it is nil.
I was taught in economics class that Price is set where Marginal Cost = Marginal Revenue (yes yes there are exceptions I know) but if the Marginal Cost of a unit is 0, then it doesn't really matter where the revenue falls on the graph, price is going to be zero.
What exactly does this mean?
It means that industries will need to change from charging for the product and focus on the service.
For example, with music, rather than charge for the song, artists will be charging for concerts. Essentially the song becomes advertisement for their tours (which funny enough is how it used to be).
With movies you're paying for the experience in the theater, rather than watching the movie itself.
With software you're not paying for the program, but servicing, updates and content.
Look at TV. Do you pay for a specific TV show when you watch it? No, you pay for the service to be provided to you, you watch the channel you want at no extra cost (you may have to pay extra to have the series of channels available to you) and the show you want. Advertisers are the ones paying to produce the show and put it on the air, not the end user. The internet is essentially you paying the ISP (cable company) for access to the internet (TV channels) and you consume the media (tv channels) you desire, when you desire.
The really funny thing is, if your product is good enough people will pay.
I buy CDs, but rarely do I from Walmart, HMV or a box store, I'll spend twice as much for them at one of the artist's shows as I know they are getting the money and not a few cents of the purchase price.
I do buy DVDs but only if the movie is good enough for me to be proud of my collection. Have I downloaded Dark Knight? Yes. Have I purchased it on DVD and Blu-Ray, yes and yes.
I find the Louis CK approach to media interesting, $5 for a special DRM free, he's selling his own tour tickets without using a ticketing agency, all to keep costs down. All the while he's making a bloody fortune. I think people want to see the end producer (be it musician, actor, or software developer) get rich off their work, not some corporate executive they've never heard of.
Not to pick on psyang, but if I saw your software for sale at Staples I wouldn't think twice about buying it. However, knowing you're a poster on CP, if I knew what software you developed, I'd make a conscious effort to look for it when I'm out, if I could use it I'd buy it. I'd do it more so because I have a connection with the developer than the product itself.
We as a society are saying, we want a connection with those developing the media for us, without that we aren't paying for it. With it, we will praise and defend you until the end of the earth, or until you no longer produce what we want (ie: Apple Fanboys).
This also turned into a bit of a rant, I hope it's coherent I don't feel like proof-reading it... if only there were a program I could download off Pirate Bay that would do that for me