News Book piracy

[Raven]

Amazing. Steam seems to have this uncanny ability to get the very people who are normally at the front of the queue when it comes to criticising media costs to defend them to the hilt. Not only that, but say its OK for Steam to charge a premium for the convienience ! iTunes is exactly as convienient, and yet is constantly accused of overcharging!

Not by me they aren't, please find where I have complained about the cost of digital media? Itunes is quite cheap actually. shit but cheap.

 

[Ormorof]

instant access on steam is not exactly true either, its more like "woo i got a game" - 7 hours of downloading later.... "gawd dammit should just have walked 10 mins to shop"

 

[Rulke]

Paper >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> e-readers.

Why?

instant access on steam is not exactly true either, its more like "woo i got a game" - 7 hours of downloading later.... "gawd dammit should just have walked 10 mins to shop"

I was more referring to the preload function, but tbh with my 20mbps line it's not a huge wait in most cases anyway

 

[Wazzerphuk]

A number of reasons, this thread's existence being one of them.

 

[Chilly]

instant access on steam is not exactly true either, its more like "woo i got a game" - 7 hours of downloading later.... "gawd dammit should just have walked 10 mins to shop"

I've got 20mbits, works a treat for me.

 

[nath]

Unashamed literature thief here.

A few different reasons I pirate books. The most common reason being that there's no ebook available, but there is a pirate copy (scanned in, full of L's where it should be I and vice versa). Close second is price, ebooks are ludicrously overpriced (in my mind, don't really care if the publishers disagree). I'd be more than willing to pay 3 quid for each and every ebook I read, most are double or even triple that and that doesn't work for me.

Not too fussed about justifying my actions (not that anyone asked me to), that's just the way it is. I expect it's that way for a fair few other people so in 50-100 years the publishers might work it out and do something about it. Until then I'll continue to refer to my 50gb ebook collection.


edit: Oh and in case it's relevant, I've not pirated a game in about... well, 3 days. But that was NFS Shift 2 and I uninstalled it the following day and ordered it from Amazon. Fucking AWESOME GAME. I can't remember the last time I pirated a game before that.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Only literature?

FUCKING HAXX0R!!!!!!47n

Edit: Shift2 is gash.

 

[nath]

Hah, gimme your paypal address and I'll send you a fiver to buy yourself a clue.

ZING!

Shift 2 is absolutely fantastic. The happiest of mediums between simulation and arcade, nothing else comes close, and don't give me your Gran Turismos or Forzas, they're utter dogshit.

 

[Deebs]

I do not pirate books but I am seriously fucked off with the price of ebooks. Luckily Amazon have a 75% sale for Kindle books and at the moment I am only buying self published books for around a quid. Happy Days.

Seriously though, ebooks should be cheaper (even if by 20%) than a paperback. Not sure on the buy the paperback version and get the digital copy as that kind of defeats the purpose of having an ebook reader.

 

[DaGaffer]

I do not pirate books but I am seriously fucked off with the price of ebooks. Luckily Amazon have a 75% sale for Kindle books and at the moment I am only buying self published books for around a quid. Happy Days.

Seriously though, ebooks should be cheaper (even if by 20%) than a paperback. Not sure on the buy the paperback version and get the digital copy as that kind of defeats the purpose of having an ebook reader.

So, actually 40% cheaper then? Remember, VAT on ebooks, no VAT on dead trees.

 

[Deebs]

So, actually 40% cheaper then? Remember, VAT on ebooks, no VAT on dead trees.

I do not care about VAT on ebooks, just want the price to be at least 20% cheaper than the paper equivalents. (so yeh, someone else absorb the VAT)

 

[Calaen]

Seriously though, ebooks should be cheaper (even if by 20%) than a paperback. Not sure on the buy the paperback version and get the digital copy as that kind of defeats the purpose of having an ebook reader.

Not really, I love actually having the books and i am building up quite a collection for when I eventually get a room with a study in just for my books. Because I'm so anal and hardly bend the pages, it's great to be able to carry the kindle with a couple of hundred books on it. More so on Holiday when I can take a book a day on the Kindle but i wouldn't take 14 paperbacks away with me.

 

[ford prefect]

A book is usually the work of one individual who has in some cases invested years, not to mention time spent honing their craft. By the time the publishing company has had their share, the retailer has had theirs and in the case of an e-book, Mr Cameron has had his share, the author actually gets a shockingly small royalty. Lending a book will often inspire someone to buy further works by that author, whereas piracy is likely to just lead to further piracy. This isn’t some nameless software empire with practically unlimited funds and guaranteed sales, with half a dozen projects on the go. For an author, every sale counts.

 

[nath]

For an author, every sale counts.

However, if ebooks are priced too high, that'll prevent sales, possibly encourage piracy. Lower price = more sales, it's simply a case of finding the sweet spot. I don't think it's there yet.