* You read that list on the internet.

Lots and lots of PR money. And IMHO a brilliant move. You see, computers are hard. Everyone knows computers are hard. And if something happens, you can't do anything, because everyone knows computers are hard.

But then comes something different. Something that is EASY. They say it everywhere. It just works, and is easy to use! So when something happens, it can't be that difficult to get it working, surely? This is after all easy.

The difference it makes is that in first scenario people give up at once, without even trying. In the second, they try their best because it's after all supposed to be easy.

And it turns out, that when you actually try to solve the problem, then it actually is easy to get it working again (compared to giving up at once and not even trying, at least).

It just works, and is easy because they tell people it is so. Pure genius :)

The thing is, the same problem will manifest any place you have a large energy potential. Just look at, say, simple and friendly water.

The thing is, you're not selling a product, you're selling an idea. An idea entombed in a product, but still an idea.

If someone made a chair, it's a definite product. I can touch it, sit in it, and sell it. If someone wants a chair like that, they can
1. buy the chair from me, at which point I'd have to make a new chair to be able to sell to a new customer. or
2. copy it, make a replica of it. With enough time, materials, equipment and skill, it can be done. They get their chair, and I still have mine to sit in and sell. They can also
3. Steal my chair, in which case they have a chair, and I have none. The time and materials I invested in it is gone. I'd have to make a new one from scratch.

The problem with an idea is that, at the core of it, it's just data. And computers are truly excellent at working with data. So with option 2 above skill, time and materials mostly disappear. The only thing left is equipment, and almost everyone got a computer. It's still not stealing, but it can be a devaluation of the product you are selling (I say can be, because there are cases where product value have increased as a result of rampart copying. Adobe products, Microsoft products and this story are examples of this).

If someone said "I've now made this chair, and shall now get paid for everyone sitting in it, until I've been dead for 75 years!" people would think it nuts. If however, he was offering a service (a place to rest, which included a chair) then it would be different, but just the chair, wherever it happens to end up? Hardly. Yet, "I've now written this book, and shall now get paid for everyone reading it, until I've been dead for 75 years!" is perfectly acceptable. Now, think a bit before you say something. The book is sold as a product. Yet, unlike other products, when bought it's not ours. I'm not free to for example publish pictures of it. I can't improve it and sell the better version (AFAIK). It is sold as a product, yet it is not. This is, I think, one of the core problems with copyright as it is now. Intellectual property (*cough*) is cherry-picking advantages both from the product side of things, and the service side of things, and it has allowed itself to grow too big. Into a completely new thing, which the world is still struggling to get a grip on. And thus you see where some of the completely crazy stuff happening are coming from.

All this goes double and triple when applied to music and software. And I'm producing software myself, so I see your point. I'm not saying copyright needs to go, I'm saying copyright in this age is something new and unbalanced. Before copyright, people lived by performing their ideas, whereas they were stories or music. They created books containing their ideas, before mass production was possible. Now, any idea can be replicated across the entire globe in a matter of hours, by more or less anyone, at little or no cost. And people expect to live off their (or someone else's idea) idea for the rest of their life - and then some. The times ahead will be .. interesting.

You forget that you're not free to choose just any business model. I'd like a business model where everyone owning a computer paid me $1 per year as license to my software, but I doubt that would fly (hell, I'd even stretch to $.5). Here it is not the government or the fat cats restricting your business model, but your customers. These who are copying your books are people who actually want to read your story. They are your target, your potential client. They have a different view of how to get your books than you have. Think why, and think if there's any way to move closer to what they want, while still getting yours. Is it the price? Convenience? The fact that they want to check out a new author and see if they like the style? All of these are factors that can be changed. Prices can be lowered, it can become easier to get your books legally (are you on kindle, for example?), you can release some chapters or even complete old books out for free (with info on how to easily buy more of your work).. The point is, there are a lot of factors in it, and taking the line "Dey be stealin my stuffies" and ignore everything else is not really helping.

Even better comparison tool imho:

http://frames-per-second.appspot.com/

Can change move speed, fps, motion blur effect, and number of moving spheres (with different settings) live.

I've read ebooks on LCD screens since around 2002 (Sharp Zaurus 5500). I find reading paper tiring in the long run now. Backlit screens are actually very comfortable when you get used to them.

And I've read 3 books so far just this month, so.. Yeah.

Since we're 2 against 1, and data is the plural of anecdotes (as you already have established), then I can summarize that 2/3 of the world's population don't read enough books because most books aren't backlit. It's SCIENTIFIC!

This still happens weekly to me.

Galaxy Note 2 vs

Radio - one year old
Radio - 4 years old
PC Speakers - 2 years old

It's not hard to reproduce either.
  1. Place phone near anything with a speaker
  2. Call said phone

or LG Prada

Or even IBM Simon, for that matter

As a thieving pirate, I noticed it. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find ROM's for old Android phones now?

Oh, you were expecting me missing MU for pirated content? Why on earth would I go there for that? It's slow, annoying and hard to automate bulk downloads.

Seriously. It's like banning eating knives to stop knife violence. Sure, if you're determined enough, you can do it with such a knife, but..

But I can easily remember "correct horse battery staple waterslide fishnet the queen bleach" - how much entropy is that?

Fancy. We're talking about http://promobay.org/ - a completely different site.

You assume the goal is to deter downloading, rather than collecting boatloads of money. If people stop downloading, then not only will they not collect boatloads of money for free, but the organization no longer have a bogeyman to scare artists and politicians with. They also avoid public backlash.

Keeping a lid on it is really a win-win situation for them.

What?

I mean, seriously, What?

This make no sense. None. No matter how I try to think about it. There is no reasoning I can think of that gives this any meaning whatsoever. No sense. None at all. /dev/null.

This is on the same level of sense as a midget clown wearing a hulu skirt jumping out of your closet declaring "I like pancakes!"

In that case, I also have one of those thingymajigs, and I'll sell it for only 48 grand! I'll even throw in a small bridge in the bargain, for free!

I am intrigued by your ideas, and want to subscribe to your newsletter detailing how to switch a SQL based storage system to a DNS based storage system.

Would that qualify as a NoSQL system, by any chance? I hear that is a frightfully innovative buzzword, and should ideally be applied to all new processes, to ensure "hipsterness" and "webscale", whatever that means. It would also means that our investors would contribute with even bigger gobjaws of money, and you just can't have enough money, you know.