Re: AppleWorks 5 on Ground?

["Michael Y. Su" <msu76@bellatlantic.net>]

Alas, I'm sorry I created such a fervor.

I am a legal, registered owner of AppleWorks and can prove it upon request
with a quick scan of my originals.  With that in mind, I would think that
I'm entitled to an upgrade.  If the update would've been free to registered
owners, then I feel it shouldn't be piracy for me to download the update.
Now on the other hand, if Claris or Apple or Whoever did charge another
license fee just for an update, then I'll admit that it would probably be a
piracy issue if I went ahead and downloaded it--even as just as I think it
is.

I'm a guy who pays shareware fees and spent thousands of dollars in the 80's
on Apple II software.  I am so lame, I even paid the ByteWorks to produce a
set of 6.0.1 disks for me.

But for now, I'm going to just play devil's advocate.  I'm sure this issue
has been raised before:

I want to purchase a copy of AW5.1.  Where am I going to get one?  If I
can't buy it, am I just supposed to sit and twiddle my thumbs and wait for a
store to open up and go back in time?  To the best of my knowledge, a
significant percentage of Apple II software is no longer commercially
available.  Unless, vendors are concurrently retailing AW, it should not
hurt their revenue should AW be <gasp> copied.

So you want me to go buy it used from Joe Schmoe?  Sure, I usually end up
doing just that.  But guess what... Apple won't make any money off of that
legal transaction!  Joe Schmoe just gets to recoup a little of his money.  I
don't think "money lost" is ever going to be an issue when it comes to old
Apple II software.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but the programmers got paid already, and they
still get their credit on the startup screen as well as in my manual.  I
don't think I'm violating their intellectual property--I'm not reselling
their software and cutting them out of the profit.  Do the programmers lose
anything?  Do they not lose anything when I go buy it used?  Paradoxically,
wouldn't copying it extend the kudos to all the programmers?  They'd get to
see their names on more Apples when Apples are few and their days are
numbered.

So where are the losses?

The only thing that stands to be hurt from all of this bickering is the
shrinking Apple II community itself.  It is so damned hard to get software
for my IIGS these days.  I'm just lucky that I still have half of my
bit-rotten *legally purchased* software viable.  If I weren't such a
die-hard I would've trashed my IIGS and never given it a second thought.

We can't just sit around waiting for Steve Jobs to get around to reclassify
AW.  Why don't we write him an e-mail and he can bring it up at his next
iChairmeeting?  In the meantime, the Apple II name and all its supporting
software is being buried in the dust of time.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but people are going to do a web search for
an AW 5.1 retailer, and in the infinitude of the WWW, they won't find more
than a handful of dead links.  They'll give up and then?  So much for
revitalizing their Apple II.

The software has to stay alive if the Apple II is to stay alive.  Burying it
behind some legal issues that weren't meant for the vastly accelerated
modern era is hurting the Apple's already stunted life expectancy.  If I had
a vote, all the Apple II software would be communalized for all posterity.
That is, I believe the licenses that currently exist for programs such as AW
are virtually (albeit not practically) defunct.

Let me explain with a hypothetical consideration:  What if Pfizer could bury
penicillin behind some sort of centuries-long patent just because they'd
rather not support it in favor of a brand new antibiotic?  It'd soon be lost
to their stockrooms and a handful of leftovers in our medicine cabinets.  In
pharmaceutics, the license lasts about 17 years if I remember correctly (a
drop in the bucket compared to the traditional software copyrights) so that
we don't lose that biotechnology while the Pfizer execs sit on their asses.

I can't wait another 80 years for Steve Jobs to rollover and re-release
Apple's applications.  Neither can the Apple II.

In the 80's I think the Apple was hot because the software was getting
around like hotcakes.  Even though piracy was hot, for every ten schools
that copied their AW, one or two would pay for a site license.  I'll be
damned if all those Apple II's had a licensed copy of AW.  In the end, I'll
bet Apple and Claris still made plenty of money to take to the bank.

In these days, adhering to existing software licenses is equivalent to
choking off a coronary artery to a heart that's already short on blood.  You
might as well kill the Apple II.  Let's adhere to those licenses... and
let's see how long the Apple II lasts.  Have we ever considered the
possibility: the fact that the Apple II is still around is because there are
resources such as Ground and Tarnover offering some commercially unavailable
commercial software <gasp>?  Or are we so gung ho that we'd rather see our
Apple IIs die rather than "violate" some antiquated licenses--for the sake
of principle?

What principle?  There are no SPA watchdogs even bothering to wag a finger
at us!  There are no execs bitching at us!  I wish they would!  That would
mean the Apple II is not just a forgotten memory but rather a market still
to be reckoned with.

Now, I'm not justifying piracy for the sake of prolonging the life of the
Apple II.  But I am convinced that no one is going to get hurt, financially,
legally, or psychologically.  I'm waiting for Apple to come forward and
shake a finger at me for copying their software.  At least that would mean
they still remember us!  Yippee!  That would actually be a day to rejoice!

But back to reality.  If you personally feel you deserve a cut when I copy
AW 2.0 for my grandmother; my next door neighbor CPA; my buddy from high
school; for me; or that newbie that just discovered his IIe; then come
forward.  Please... no nonsense from every legal license holder and other
3rd degree separatees.  Sure piracy was responsible for the exorbitant price
you paid for your software, but that's a whole other bag of issues that we
don't need to bring up right now.  :^)  I'm talking about the programmers
and the greasy-execs that still want their cut.  If you're still shipping
AW, I'm still writing checks.

So you know what the kicker is?  Most of us -truly- value the intellectual
property and end up buying the software anyway as soon as it becomes
available.  It's not like we're cheap and don't want to buy it.  If you
check out the sales on eBay on right over on csa2m, there isn't much stuff
that goes unsold.  We are so starved for Apple stuff, and we -will- pay.

Michael Su.