tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5688599.post117124916356756657..comments2023-10-12T04:54:05.108-07:00Comments on Deep Freeze 9: Not selling what they’re buyingJP (Pierre) de Vrieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02311009024575927588noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5688599.post-1171409607713088052007-02-13T15:33:00.000-08:002007-02-13T15:33:00.000-08:00I think the heart of the problem is less the physi...I think the heart of the problem is less the physical/virtual divide (as Brad Gillespie notes, people obey laws without a physical imperative), and more the way that the rights/ownership divide is orthogonal to that. The content owners are pulling a bait and switch. Before online (i.e., easily ripped) digital media came along, you never, ever heard content owners talk about CDs “conferring the right to listen to music in a particular way;” they simply “sold you a CD.” It was then <B>yours</B>, and you could do whatever you wanted with it. Copying was never really an issue for content owners because it was too cumbersome. But even if you did tape a CD, it clearly wasn’t something the content industry cared about—aside from basic copyright, there were never explicit warnings on the jewel case not to use the CD “inappropropriately” or excessively or whatever. Then online music came along, and suddenly “sold” turned into “leased”…<BR/><BR/>The experience, however, didn't change. If you’re a consumer, the “right to listen” and “ownership” look, feel and sound exactly the same. Which is why, when content owners try to tell consumers it <B>isn’t</B> the same, those consumers smell a rat.<BR/><BR/>What the content industry doesn’t seem to understand is that it will never make money along the entire length of the tail. Until it groks this, its slice of the tail will get smaller and smaller, as it alienates more and more customers with (a) the bait and switch and (b) its, uh, interesting interpretation of entertainment economics (where lower demand = higher prices = still lower demand = still higher prices = … you get the idea).<BR/><BR/>Also, frankly, I don’t think anyone of my generation has ever forgiven the music industry for tripling the price of an album when the switch from LP to CD was made. My $6 LP became an $18 CD, complete with the bonus track I never wanted in the first place.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com