Piracy, warez and You.

[CozBoogie]

What we have here is a discussion between hard goods and services versus soft goods and services. Most of us would never try to stiff the plumber that just spent an hour snaking out our filthy clogged pipes. The plumber is providing a hard service. It’s tangible. You can see it. You can see the results. You can interact with the plumber, etc.

Compare that against soft services and goods such as video files, audio files, and software that you get online. Most of us do not recognize these are as being tangible goods or services. Indeed, most of us just see the latest U2 song that we find online as a file worthy of being downloaded. It is lacking as a tangible good. It is essentially not real to us except when we play it on our computer, iPod, etc.

Ironically, we wouldn’t go into a music store and steal the U2 compact disc. So what is the difference then between buying the cd at a brick and mortar music store versus finding it via LimeWire, etc.? The difference is the perception of what it represents. The difference is the perception of what the medium is.

I freely admit that I have downloaded a boatload of songs off the internet. Now would I go to a music store and steal all of those cd’s? No. So what’s the difference? Again the difference is perception. I don’t see it as “stealing” when I download songs. To me it’s just a file. It’s not a tangible good. I have no association with it being real.

I think software obviously falls into to that non-tangible category. It’s something that just goes on our phone/computer. Would we go to BestBuy and steal the latest version of PhotoShop? No. But if we can get a free upgrade or get the program essentially for free online why wouldn’t we do it?

I’m not saying that we should “steal” from or “stiff” developers. What I am saying is that selling soft goods and services is fraught with its own limitations, etc. It’s the chance you take.

Again…it’s all linked, I believe, to perception.

late,
Coz

[doireallyhavetodothis]

Originally Posted by cozboogie

What we have here is a discussion between hard goods and services versus soft goods and services. Most of us would never try to stiff the plumber that just spent an hour snaking out our filthy clogged pipes. The plumber is providing a hard service. It’s tangible. You can see it. You can see the results. You can interact with the plumber, etc.

Compare that against soft services and goods such as video files, audio files, and software that you get online. Most of us do not recognize these are as being tangible goods or services. Indeed, most of us just see the latest U2 song that we find online as a file worthy of being downloaded. It is lacking as a tangible good. It is essentially not real to us except when we play it on our computer, iPod, etc.

Ironically, we wouldn’t go into a music store and steal the U2 compact disc. So what is the difference then between buying the cd at a brick and mortar music store versus finding it via LimeWire, etc.? The difference is the perception of what it represents. The difference is the perception of what the medium is.

I freely admit that I have downloaded a boatload of songs off the internet. Now would I go to a music store and steal all of those cd’s? No. So what’s the difference? Again the difference is perception. I don’t see it as “stealing” when I download songs. To me it’s just a file. It’s not a tangible good. I have no association with it being real.

I think software obviously falls into to that non-tangible category. It’s something that just goes on our phone/computer. Would we go to BestBuy and steal the latest version of PhotoShop? No. But if we can get a free upgrade or get the program essentially for free online why wouldn’t we do it?

I’m not saying that we should “steal” from or “stiff” developers. What I am saying is that selling soft goods and services is fraught with its own limitations, etc. It’s the chance you take.

Again…it’s all linked, I believe, to perception.

late,
Coz

I think the solution is to require everyone to pay for everything. Even if it's just a buck or two, pay something for everything. Pay for water at a restaurant, pay for the use of a gas station bathroom, pay at least a buck or two for that new song, etc... The problem is when you charge money for something people expect this funny little thing called value. They want that water too be just the right temperature and in the amount they want. They want the bathroom to be spotless and have the extra soft tissue. They want the song to be good and able to sing with it and they want that software to come with tech support and guaranteed to work.

In all these "calculations" of how much revenue was lost because some pirated software or music I wonder if they ever factor in how much less grief they got from angry customer emails, time and money spent supporting it, and how much word of mouth publicity it got thereby increasing the size of their potential pond of customers and raising the percentage of people who would pay for said software.

I'm not justifying anything. Simply some food for thought.

[Trident]

Originally Posted by doireallyhavetodothis

In all these "calculations" of how much revenue was lost because some pirated software or music I wonder if they ever factor in how much less grief they got from angry customer emails, time and money spent supporting it, and how much word of mouth publicity it got thereby increasing the size of their potential pond of customers and raising the percentage of people who would pay for said software.

I'm not justifying anything. Simply some food for thought.

A very interesting point. Probably has something to do with how well the Apple App Store does- some of the things are free, but all of them benefit from the publicity. And most of the apps are very cheap.