It interesting that you can claim Mr. Eisner is disingenuous and yet you gloss over that fact that software and books are not the same as music and videos. If I get a copy of a song, there is arguably NO need for a legit copy. Sure, you could argue that *today* it is possibly more convienent to own a CD than to have an MP3 file but iPods, CD burners and other things are quickly changing that. The same will happen for videos.
On the other hand, this is not true of books. A PDF file of one of O'Reilly many books is rarely if ever as useful as the book. When I want to use the info your books provide I usually want to look at it in the book since on the screen I want to see the particular app etc I'm working with.
Software can also be argued to be different from videos and music. Some software needs support. No music or videos need support. Some software needs manuals. No music or videos need manuals. Software is also often used to make money. Using Word to write a contract, Excel to do accounting etc. Music and Movies are rarely if ever used BY THE CUSTOMER to make money. There's a different dynamic at work when buying software. I know plenty of people that will pirate software for home use but buy it for work use. Not true with music and videos.
-gregg tavares
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Disingenuous Comments from Tim O'Reilly
2002-03-29 11:34:34
su007
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I disagree, the PDF version may be restricted but it can be unlocked. Also I believe there are HTML versions of the books avail. with no restrictions.
Also digital music can degrade due to many reasons, such as recompression, transfer errors, etc. A CD is a near flawless digital copy that would be difficult to match with a media file
(audio buffs know the difference). Also burned CD's are inferior to pressed cd's, and are more prone to skipping/scratching.
Also digital music can degrade due to many reasons, such as recompression, transfer errors, etc. A CD is a near flawless digital copy that would be difficult to match with a media file
(audio buffs know the difference). Also burned CD's are inferior to pressed cd's, and are more prone to skipping/scratching.
My $.02
Regards