Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: The Casino

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  • David Slack,

    In what time frame?

    Until Sky City closes its doors.

    Devonport • Since Nov 2006 • 599 posts Report

  • BenWilson,

    LOL that's only one bomb threat away. Get your cash ready. Like I said, you don't need a casino to take a crazy gambler's shirt.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • David Slack,

    I go ten no trumps without the Joker if we're snowed in for the day.

    Devonport • Since Nov 2006 • 599 posts Report

  • giovanni tiso,

    (I will not be actively participating, because I'll be working on the overhaul of the website that subsidises my 'writing'.)

    Huh, get rid of those speechmarks this instant!

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • BenWilson,

    I've got the Joker. It's called the fire alarm switch.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • David Slack,

    The only person on the scene missing
    was the Jack of Hearts.

    Devonport • Since Nov 2006 • 599 posts Report

  • Lyndon Hood,

    Visitors to internet discussions are warned against the common and fallacious belief that everyone who disagrees with you agrees with each other.

    Anyhow, bit of technology history:
    Why computer voices still don't sound human. - By Farhad Manjoo - Slate Magazine

    Via which, I'd missed Amazon offering publisher veto on the talking machines

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report

  • Lyndon Hood,

    You're nothing but a pack of cards!

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report

  • BenWilson,

    He hid in his bower.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Mark Harris,

    Hang on - left vs. right - How did I get to kiwiblog???

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report

  • BenWilson,

    You followed a trail of billygoat's blood?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Mark Harris,

    ewww

    ...but that'd do it...

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    Islander - here's some points to consider writers based on what some other people have suggested.

    No one has suggested anything of the kind, but carry on anyway ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • robbery,

    No one has suggested anything of the kind, but carry on anyway ...

    I think I made my point, but lets pretend I didn't.
    I'll clarify.
    I was working on the basis that you can freely interchange models between different media, like say open source software and oh, I don't know, music, or film distribution, why not have a go at books too, seems almost unfair not to.

    new zealand • Since May 2007 • 1882 posts Report

  • giovanni tiso,

    Insofar as books are the next on the bloc to be digitised, I think Robbery has a point.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    Insofar as books are the next on the bloc to be digitised, I think Robbery has a point.

    Perhaps I'm sensitive, and I'm as bored by me arguing with Rob as anyone else is, but it read to me like him making common cause with one member of the clan by dumping on the others. I just wish his first contribution to a conversation could be helpful rather than a snark.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • robbery,

    making common cause with one member of the clan by dumping on the others.

    polite challenge = dumping?
    me against the world, sucking up to islander?

    possibly being sensitive,
    islander has multiple times voice support for my points, its not a new position for either of us to agree.

    new zealand • Since May 2007 • 1882 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    polite challenge = dumping?
    me against the world, sucking up to islander?

    Presumably I misread your irony, but I couldn't see that anyone had actually expressed any of the views you referred to. It didn't seem a good-faith way to enter the discussion.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • giovanni tiso,

    Perhaps I'm sensitive, and I'm as bored by me arguing with Rob as anyone else is, but it read to me like him making common cause with one member of the clan by dumping on the others. I just wish his first contribution to a conversation could be helpful rather than a snark.

    There is that. I still think it was an interesting provocative statement as opposed to an uninteresting one. There might be some interesting rationalisations coming our way by the time the next instalment of Harry Potter is shared the p2p way.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • robbery,

    but I couldn't see that anyone had actually expressed any of the views you referred to.

    spelling it out, I'm applying conditions under which music and film are supposed to survive as outline in discussions here many many times and applying it to books, in a somewhat ironic way.

    new zealand • Since May 2007 • 1882 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    spelling it out, I'm applying conditions under which music and film are supposed to survive as outline in discussions here many many times and applying it to books, in a somewhat ironic way.

    I missed the irony.

    But let's look at this in real-world terms.

    We're talking about the Kindle: a device so locked-down that it not only prevents readers from lending books to each other, it provides no way for them to even gift books at their full value. That's quite a big loss of love compared to what people have been doing with printed books for hundreds of years.

    And yet the Author's Guild wants to further cleave the Kindle's ability to display a text visually from its function of audio display. That's what it is. Its not someone talented reading a book, it's an audio display by a machine.

    I honestly think a more relevant goal would be forcing publishers to stop accounting audiobook revenues as ancillary (ie: lesser) royalties compared to printed books when they are quite obviously a core part of what an author should expect to earn. Bonus: no technology is broken in the process.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • BenWilson,

    Presumably I misread your irony, but I couldn't see that anyone had actually expressed any of the views you referred to.

    Ironic hyperbole perhaps. I kind of got what he was driving at, but to me the great irony is that robbery has to put up with all of those conditions on everything he writes online, which is a heck of a lot. But it doesn't stop him. It may be a source of bitterness, though.

    My 2c on intellectual property is that it's not a major driver of innovation. But my business is software, not traditional art. You can make a shitload of cash in software without owning IP (although the really big fortunes tend to come from it), so I don't care to generalize. Making more traditional art - music, writing, painting, choreography etc are perhaps very different, in that many genuinely original people are often not well rewarded. That doesn't seem to have stopped them, but who can really know if there weren't lots of squandered talents out there who simply didn't want to endure poverty. I often feel that way myself, that the software projects I really wanted to work on just weren't lucrative enough, and maybe the world missed out. By the time I'm rich enough to just write whatever I like, I may well have lost the edge. But then again, maybe if I really had the artistic horn, I might have done them anyway.

    Basically, I don't have any objection to people profiting from their art, but I don't think the failure to profit is a great detriment to art, so ultimately I don't really have a position on IP. It just seems like one of those curious facts about society, that on the one hand forces will drive some people to protect their power over ideas, and on the other, ideas can't really practically be contained or owned. Certainly not the good ones. The real battle rages between the ideas themselves, and humans are their battlefield.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • BenWilson,

    As for the Kindle audio position, it's just mean spirited and shortsighted. People who want or need horrid t2s are already punished enough.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    I suppose I should point out that I do, in a small way, know what I'm talking about, both as a small royalty-earner and a (former) small publisher.

    I was amazed at the lack of money (and consequently, marketing) in publishing. But we still published a successful book based on content anyone can get for free from this website, and I personally paid writers and their estates. I was proud of that.

    Compare that to freelance print journalism, where not only have publishers never paid an extra cent to use my work online, they haven't increased the dollar rate for my original words in 15 years. Now that sucks.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

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