Re: Asimov performs a valuable service; so why fight over it

[elric@neo.lrun.comnospam (Robert H)]

This is not a reply to any one person, but just the topic in general.

I support the Asimov archive because it allowed me to download many
Apple ][ games I used to own as a kid, and play them on an emulator.
Yes, I use emulators.  My old Apple IIc has been sitting in dust for
years.  The prospect of having to do the serial link conversion wasn't
enough to justify the time.  Downloading already made images makes the
time worthwhile.

However, let me play devil's advocate for once.

To say old Apple II software has no market value anymore is in fact,
not true.  It doesn't matter if it hurts or doesn't hurt resellers,
copyright holders or anyone involved in producing the title.  It could
potentially hurt the owners of the software.  Let me explain.

Anything old eventually becomes a collectable.  This is true of Star
Wars figures, lunchboxes or comic books.  And I will grant you that
the original has far more value than any copy.  Of course, it's easy
to "replicate" Apple II software- a little harder to clone a Luke
Skywalker action figure.

I really don't care about the copyright holders or whether the game in
question is sold anymore, but as an owner, I have a right to hold on
to a piece of software to increase it's value.  By having it available
to everyone in the World through Asimov, it could potentially devalue
my original copy.  I am allowed to sell it second hand, and is my
right to do so.

Let's say Lord British created a game before Ultima and even before
Akalabeth.  Let's say this game is so rare, only 100 copies were EVER
made.  If I told you I had an original, and you've never played the
game before, that curiosity makes the value go up.  If you want to
play it at all, you will have to buy it from me or someone else who
has a copy.

If that game, however rare it used to be, is suddenly found on Asimov,
it becomes as common as Aztec or Rescue Raiders.

Yes, I will stop the flames before they come.  I realize completely
that a boxed version of a game has inheritently more value than any
copy, but by having that copy available for free, it could lower the
value of my original.  Some people just want to play it, but some want
to own it.  Suppose this fictional Lord British game was a piece of
crap (though was still distinguished as being his first), people could
download it, play it, and realize it ain't worth buying this
particular collectible.  That could hurt me.  Just because retailers
aren't making any money off old Apple II software doesn't mean it
lacks value.  After all, if all this Apple II software lacked value,
there wouldn't be such a debate about it, and none of us would care is
Asimov even existed in Cyberspace at all.

My two cents.

Robert Holmes

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