Re: OMG!

["Frank Townsend" <ftownsen@iamdigex.net>]

Perhaps I'm an outlier, but I buy software from eBay and other sources all
the time to run and not to gaze at.

"Sheldon Simms" <sheldon@interprice.com> wrote in message
20010504.093929.841148365.1761@ip148.interprice.vi">news:20010504.093929.841148365.1761@ip148.interprice.vi...

> > All these people are using the old machines or picking up machines for
> > dirt cheap and they want to play their favourite game from when they
> > used Apple IIs or to see some of the greats that they've heard about.
> > Follow me so far?
>
> Not exactly. I've had an Apple II since 1983 and there is not one
> single piece of software on Asimov that I'd pay money for. And why
> do you think that people who "picked up a machine for dirt cheap"
> would want to pay more for a 15-25 year old game than they paid for
> the computer itself?

See my comments above.  I have bought plenty of new old stock software for
my Apple II recently.

 > > Most of the copyright holders no longer sell or make their
> > products available in any way either.  In a perfect world, sites like
> > Asimov wouldn't exist so these Apple II users would not be able to
> > simply download the programs they want. They would have to look for
> > originals somewhere.  Be it from the copyright holder, a distributor
> > with remaining stock, a thrift store, a yard sale, a post on
> > comp.sys.apple2.marketplace, an eBay auction, a dumpster, et al.
> > Is this still making sense?
>
> Not in the least. That wouldn't be a perfect world. It would be an
> insane world. What you advocate does practically nothing for copyright
> holders and would mean the utter destruction and end of the Apple II
> and its software.

Sounds like hyperbole.

Old disks wear out eventually, or are accidently
> ruined, or get lost, etc. In your perfect world, all of this old software
> would eventually be lost and gone forever.

No doubt there would be some attrition.  On the other hand if there were
*no* piracy and some demand, folks would  look for legitimate sources and
probably would buy copies.  In fact, I bought a copy of ProSel 8 from
Charlie's Appleseeds several months ago.

 In the meantime, only the
> relatively few people who have an original would be able to use and
> enjoy the software. More to the point, it's an imaginary world. It will
> never happen. Neither law enforcement agencies nor the judicial system
> have the slightest interest in making your fantasy world real.

The judicial system would certainly enforce an injunction in response to an
action brought by a copyright holder and would also probably award
attorney's fees.

> > This means that without the ability to download stuff, more people would
> > be searching for originals and therefore, the market for originals would
> > go up.  This would probably also increase the price of originals as well
> > although I'm sure some people would still luck in and get an original
> > for free or very close to it.  Does it make sense now?
>
> No. Without the ability to download stuff, most people would never
> buy that old Apple II off eBay, or if they already have an Apple II,
> they'd ust use what they already have or put the computer in a closet.

Isn't this just speculation as to what most people would do?  BTW, I
recently bought a IIc+, then from eBay, a sw copy of GEOS for IIc+.  Didn't
even try to find it to download.

..snip..

> Second off, you're full of it. People who buy old software like that on
> eBay are looking for collectables, not programs.

Nope.  I buy the stuff to use.

Think about it. Who
> would buy your shrinkwrapped copy? Someone who thinks it's valuable
> because it's old and still in a like-new condition. That's why people
> will pay more for the shrinkwrap.

No, I will pay more for a sw copy because the documentation will be
included.

 If you don't think that's true, then
> open it up, throw away the box and just sell the disk. Think you'll get
> the same price? Now, the high bidders in your hypothetical auction are
> going to be people looking for a collectable. People who just want to
> play the game a few times and not going to compete with the collectors
> and will not affect the end price.

Something garbled about this last sentence.