July 07, 2004
you had to hide away for so long
7/7/04
UPI just ran a story on how fully 1/3rd of all software on everybody's computer is pirated. That figure seemed a little high to me until I thought about my own past, and the lack of compunction I had towards stealing everything for the Mac I could get my hands on.
Even now, Photoshop costs $630, which is another way to say "absolutely fuckin' insane." There is not one struggling post-grad in Chapel Hill or Madison or the Lower East Side who could possibly afford to shell out that much money, even if the program is a) fantastic (which it is) or b) necessary for their career.
They're going to steal it, or "borrow" it, or download it from Limewire or Kazaa, or go to that place on the 6th Avenue sidewalk where Lars gets all his cool software. The allure is just too great, and it's relatively easy. My friend Brian is notorious for getting his hands on every piece of software written for OS X, along with the codes to break the registration.
I used a pirated copy of Word from the age of 20 to 33. My copy of early Photoshop is still on some random computers in North Carolina. My current iPod looks something like this:
50% CDs I owned and ripped to the iPod
25% songs downloaded from Napster in 2001 that I already owned at some point in my history
10% bought from the iTunes store fair and square
5% downloaded illegally, and were also tunes I'd never owned, and thus I feel somewhat guilty
Scotty and I believe that you should buy a song ONCE in your life, and thus you own the Intellectual Rights for That Song's Happiness in Perpetuity. You would only pay for the physical upgrades. For example:
- in 1977, I buy the 45 rpm single of "Free to Be, You and Me"
- in 1984, I buy the CD of the song, but only pay for the plastic and pressing
- in 2004, I download the song from iTunes, but only pay the pennies of overhead that it took to store that 3.5MB of memory.
I saw this because I have now bought ELO's "Mr Blue Sky" about 8 times since 1977. And those guys have enough of my money.
More than most bands, I think ELO need your money.
Just think about Jeff Lynne's hair expenses....
Ian, this is in line with a pseudo business idea I once heard (i think it was my father in law's). There should be a company that exchanges VHS movies for DVD's. You bring in your old VHS copy and the company gives you a DVD of the movie for a minimal cost (cost of the disc and packaging plus a small profit). Then the company could erase the VHS movies and put reruns of MacGyver on them and sell them to east asia (I made that part up).
I appreciate what you are saying but does that mean you will be fine with me posting movies you make after I buy the DVD?
No, because the DVDs will only be $29.95.
ELO absolutely rules.
after weeks of often poignant commentary, that's what i have decided to chime in on.
okay.
At my bachelor party before I got married, we ended up, dead drunk, at Cedar Rapids' only strip joint, where we witnessed a pudgy girl take it off down to pasties and g string to "I'm Alive" by ELO. Later that night I puked so much I thought I was going to evert my entire GI tract.
Good times ...
The first LP I bought was in the 4th grade - ELO's Greatest Hits - from there I went on to own them all.
In the 6th grade I went to my first concert - ELO's 'Time' tour.
glad there are others that love em.