Re: OMG!

["Sheldon Simms" <sheldon@interprice.com>]

Im Artikel <3af22cd3.169752292@news1.on.sympatico.ca> schrieb "Jeff
Blakeney" <CUTjefbla@bconnex.net>:


> On Thu, 03 May 2001 13:10:23 +0200, "Sheldon Simms"
> <sheldon@interprice.com> wrote:
> 
>>Im Artikel <b66_200105021339@juge.com> schrieb "Bruce Baker"
>><Bruce.Baker@juge.com>:
>>
>>> But I think it is clear that the market for original software is going
>>> up not down.  It would go up even more if the option to download it
>>> didn't exist.
>>??? That's certainly not clear to me, at least assuming you're talking
>>about Apple II software. How can you justify this assertion?
...
> 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?

> 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. 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. 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.

> 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.

> As things are now, if I were to put my never opened, still
> shrinkwrapped, extra original of the game Renegade on eBay many of the
> people who might be potential bidders will simply go to (or have already
> gone to) Asimov and download it rather than trying to buy mine.  This
> means I would end up getting less than I could have for that piece of
> software and all because there are people illegally distributing it and
> even more people using an illegal copy of it thereby making the market
> for my original smaller.

First off, I assume you aren't the copyright holder of Renegade. In that
case, I don't give a rip if the market for your shrinkwrapped copy is
smaller. Copyright law says absolutely nothing about your right to resell
your program. Many companies that make their living from copyright, like
music and book companies, would in fact love to make it illegal for
people to resell copyrighted stuff.

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

-- 
sheldon@semanticedge.com  "The term (denotation t) denotes the object denoted
                           by the object denoted by t." -- KIF