tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12658605.post297098258175972501..comments2023-05-23T15:12:59.365-07:00Comments on PeaceLove's Musings: On Magic and Technology: The Elephant in the RoomPeaceLovehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05571571887644175214noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12658605.post-32634260067100987392010-03-23T15:32:45.305-07:002010-03-23T15:32:45.305-07:00Kent,
Thanks so much for adding your voice! I won...Kent,<br /><br />Thanks so much for adding your voice! I won't respond to your specific points since I'm sure I'll be posting further on this topic very soon. But your overall view is correct; people will share digital files whether we like it or not because the benefits -- access to vast amounts of information in a way previously unimaginable -- so far outweigh the downside that filesharers nowadays just accept it as a given. You just happen to have been a geek as a kid (in the good sense), the kind of guy who knew how to use computers early and found "file sharing" sites before such a thing had a name. <br /><br />Pretty hip for an old fat white guy!PeaceLovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05571571887644175214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12658605.post-54040018911696566002010-03-23T14:41:20.568-07:002010-03-23T14:41:20.568-07:00Jon,
Speaking frankly, I've been a pirate. I ...Jon,<br /><br />Speaking frankly, I've been a pirate. I don't mean the Carribean kind either. I'm older than any of the demographics you mentioned. I caught the first true wave of file sharing with 110 baud modem and an Apple computer. I watched the the baud rates of modems increase dramatically over the years. My pals and I swapped disks, mostly games. <br />It never occurred to me what we were doing was wrong. It seemed cool to be able to get the games for the price of some space on a blank 5 1/4 inch floppy. <br />I had little interaction over the phone lines with swapping files. I saw a pal doing it and he was my source. I guess I was one of many end users/abusers. I did get a heck of a large collection of games for my Apple II. I rarely played any of them. I bought a large number of games as well. <br /><br />Modem speeds kept going up. I discovered music sites. I had an enormous collection of vinyl records. I spent far more time with a home-made rig ripping my vinyl into mp3s. Those files . . . well, other people have them. Lots of people.<br /><br />As I've aged, and heaven knows I have aged, I grow more financially secure. I can actually afford to buy computer games now. I actually do this with for my PS3 habit. I tend to play the games a lot more when I've paid for them. <br /><br />I think I still have the technical know-how to de-protect games. The internet makes that process childishly simple. I simply can't be bothered.<br /><br />Any creator of magic, computer games or music has to know their shit is going to be ripped off. If you can't accept that, don't enter those businesses. I've produced a single magic product. It is so lousy it hasn't made it to any torrent sites. I'm almost hurt! (not really) I was smart enough not to make a video explanation of the product. That is the sort of silliness most folks that pirate magic would want. Hmmm . . . maybe the old guy ain't that dumb. (too lazy to sit in front of a camera is the truth)<br /><br />As for scanning and OCRing magic books that have valid copyrights, I don't think it's cool. But who cares what I think. Folks are doing it whether I like it or not. I'm an old fat white guy with a job that pays me enough to buy any magic book I want. I now have a freaking room of my house, up to the rafters with magic books. <br /><br />If you scanned and downloaded all the books in my library it wouldn't make you a better magician. They haven't helped me all that much. Ah . . . but the ones I've read did help. Having a huge reference library of magic makes you a geek with a bunch of books. If you stole them it makes you a thief with a bunch of magic books. If you choose to use the information in those books and become a great magician, that's cool with me, no matter which path you chose. <br /><br />You cannot count every pirated copy as a lost sale. That is a huge, stupid, backwoods-country-fuck lie. It has been perpetuated by software makers, music dudes and the magic world.<br /><br />Some people will steal stuff. That crew wasn't going to buy your shit anyway. Get over it. Make good magic stuff. Sell what you can and if someone is distributing it for free, that may be what it is really worth. <br /><br />ramblin' man . . .<br />Kent GunnKenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01856681227445633312noreply@blogger.com