Survival of FLGS moving into the digital doc age

[BP]

My main reason for initially going with the iDevices was the iPad was available last year - and no other mainstream vendor offered an equivalent technology (held off client project for almost a year with the expectation of Win based multi-touch tablets that never appeared - though I was pleasantly surprised when I realized iOS's NeXT roots!). It also makes projects of the nature I am involved in more viable - as I don't control the machines, but Apple polices the performance for me to a much greater extent than any other platform. I have little concern that my app will appear 'broken' because the user decided he had to visit Facebook or click on that hot YouTube video, much less download that latest Russian made free app so he could watch the hockey game that was blacked out in his area! :roll:

Users who do more than surf the web, play simple games, watch videos and read ebooks would be mistaken if they expect the iPad to replace a notebook. Not that it can't do a lot of other things (and there are more apps for it than any other platform) - my programs are business related - but its not its truly intended market, so you have to go through extra effort to get some things done.

It does, however, augment one nicely - and fits specific needs better than anything on the market. If all one wants to do is the above - definitely look into it.

[And, btw, apps can run on non-jail-broken devices without Apple approval - but that requires an enterprise development token and is intentionally outside the purview of the mass market as it is restricted in deployment... this is different from the time limited beta deployment options like one would see with Traveller AR]

 

[GamerDude]

My main reason for initially going with the iDevices was the iPad was available last year - and no other mainstream vendor offered an equivalent technology

Actually, HP was offering these "Tablet PC's" before the iPad came out, long enough before that one of the "rent to own" chains known as "Aaron's" had made a monster purchase of a special configuration that had a built in optical drive. Mine is a second gen so instead of a Turion X2 I got an i5 processor (pissed off my friend who got the Turion version just a month before I got my i5).

I know to get what I want (the hard drive, removable media such as SD Cards, USB Drives, and the same battery life) Apple would charge me $2,000 and it wouldn't way near what the iPad does.

 

[GamerDude]

You don't need to use their overpriced drives, BTW.

But if your needs exceed the 64GB (its actually less, but who's quibbling) and if you are happy with your Win7 Tablet (other than weight/battery life) you'd probably be better off waiting a bit for the iPad competition to move into high gear.

My purchased RPG PDFs (and some board/TCG's) come to about 60 GB. That doesn't include what I've created for my games.

 

[BP]

...HP was offering these "Tablet PC's" before the iPad came out,

'Tablet PC's' have existed for a long time... but none have come close to the market scale and support that Apple brought to play, not to mention battery life to last a normal work shift and light weight - though it is a limited 'PC' to assure a guaranteed level of performance.

...I know to get what I want (the hard drive, removable media such as SD Cards, USB Drives, and the same battery life) Apple would charge me $2,000 and it wouldn't way near what the iPad does.

Yeah - Apple's biggest mistake (and they weren't alone) - has always been price point IMO. I believe lower margins would have meant more profit and possible market dominance back in the day when home computers where just starting to become common. Jobs should have taken a cue from Gates - one of Microsoft's stronger moves was undercutting the competition on price. I started early with Windows and PCs knowing they weren't the best technology-wise - but were likely to dominate the market anyway. Most IT directors I worked for were accountants by trade - they'd jump over a hundred useful features to save a dime (and end up eventually spending a dollar doing it) - consumers often do the same.

As to your 60+ GB needs and other expectations - doubt the limitations of the iPad would be worth the reduction in weight/battery life to you. Regardless, you might want to check out optimizing PDFs (like with the open source Bliss application). Macs have some native ability to do this which can reduce file size - and Adobe Acrobat (seem to recall you were playing with for character forms) does as well.

P.S. - I assume you meant your HP tablet instead of the iPad on that last

 

[BP]

Actually ...NextStep Mac/10 iOS are MACH based, MACH-1 in the case of the NextStep Foul-Up

Sure - but could care less about that part... its superior graphics support and Objective-C roots as compared to Windows is what I like.

NeXTStep was hardly a foul-up for its owner - he sold it to the Swiss Banks and to Apple and parts to MS as well... the NeXT hardware was very ahead of its time - but the 1/3 boards for sound and DSP and lack of full color support was a market mistake to say the least.

 

[shotgun-toting chipmunk]

So on the original topic, does anybody thing FLGS' could come up with some sort of in-store purchasing system like Gamestop does with XBL Arcade games? Maybe if DriveThruRPG set up a system where FLGS' could allow purchases within their store, similar to the referral system they use?

 

[DFW]

So on the original topic, does anybody thing FLGS' could come up with some sort of in-store purchasing system like Gamestop does with XBL Arcade games? Maybe if DriveThruRPG set up a system where FLGS' could allow purchases within their store, similar to the referral system they use?

This was my original idea somewhat. The publishers would have to do it in order for it to work in the channel.

 

[BP]

For those who like dead tree copies, the offer of combined PDF would entice traffic - especially if such is unique to FLGSs.

For those who just want PDFs, suspect the stores will have to offer something else not available online. But anything on the publisher's behalf (like earlier releases, etc.) would probably not work in the sense that online sellers might make up a bigger market share for publishers who wouldn't want to hurt their sells.

 

[lastbesthope]

For those who like dead tree copies, the offer of combined PDF would entice traffic - especially if such is unique to FLGSs.

Indeed, I'm not buying a book from my FLGS in one case ebcause if I buy from the publisher direct I get the pdf+dead tree bundle, that makes it worth the shipping charge.

LBH

 

[GamerDude]

Somebody,
Not being a lawyer myself (but having assisted our SPA years ago and someone who tries to stay up on the basics of US copyright law) I think you hit on the head how it is in the USA too.

I've had "friends" tell me how to strip out watermarking (and some of these are programming professionals too.) or gotten the rationalization copyright somehow doesn't apply because "you're not making money off it", etc.

Y'know what? My stance on this has helped make me a pariah of sorts locally - I refuse to share any PDF, period. If it is watermarked it helps a bit because I can point out the dammed file can be traced back to me, and I don't trust that someone won't pass it on. After that there is the "gee, I'm retired on disability you have a nice job, but you want me to just give you what I paid for? Dude go buy the freaking PDF during one of the frequent sales on DriveThruRPG alright?"

In some ways passing the PDF is like a group buying only one book and then always passing it around the table. Yet it is not because at the end of the day that one copy goes home with one person.

Unfortunately I've met too many people who have no clue about copyright (or have nicely rationalized how just about any violation of it is actually 'legit'). I even have had this discussion with someone who ripped off the time honored "Far Trader" taking the image that's in the MGT Core Rulebook, laying it out in a drawing program (different graphics for chairs, engines), move a wall here seat there, then claim it was their work and "their copyright because it's their work." And tried to offer it up to a publisher. OMG the rationalizations I was given.

Oh well.

 

[DFW]

I've had "friends" tell me how to strip out watermarking (and some of these are programming professionals too.) or gotten the rationalization copyright somehow doesn't apply because "you're not making money off it", etc.

Oh well.

The other bizarre argument I've heard is, "Information wants to be free."

The last time some id10t said that to me, I asked him, "When did the 'information' tell you that?"

 

[rust]

While I basically agree with this, I have to admit that I tend to ignore the
copyright if there is no active copyright holder, for example when a com-
pany has disappeared and no other company took over and continues to
sell the material in question.

For example, there is a famous case where Company A bought Company
B with the sole purpose to kill their games, because those games were
considered a much too dangerous competition for the games of Company
A. While company A now has the copyright for the games of Company B,
they will never publish them - preventing them from being published was
what the entire operation was about.

This is a case where, well, my respect for the copyright is rather low.

 

[DFW]

While I basically agree with this, I have to admit that I tend to ignore the copyright if there is no active copyright holder, for example when a company has disappeared and no other company took over and continues to sell the material in question.

I don't have a problem if the IP holder has abandoned something and doesn't want to make money on it anymore. That is a decision that is up to the owner.

 

[BP]

The original U.S. copyright laws limited this type of cut shark market activity ... then along came Mickey Mouse and the power of money to buy legislation!

 

[far-trader]

... then along came Mickey Mouse and the power of money to buy legislation!

...< waits for the big D to ask for their copyright fee for use >

...< hmmm, their search and demand net crawlers must be overloaded, again... >



Try spinning the issue back on the "information wants to be free" and "IP theft is a victimless crime" crowd. They want to ask you for a copy of your PDF, ask them for a copy of their banking information. Or how about I just copy down your credit card numbers. It's all just numbers. Simple data. Just information. I'll post it up to share with other web users. Where's the harm.

And to the ones who claim "Well I wouldn't buy it anyway so it's not like they're loosing a sale." Well then you don't need it do you? Or the torrent crowd claims of "I'm just evaluating it and if I like it I always buy it." Of course you do <dripping sarcasm...>

Not that I'm a spotlessly clean user myself. Who is? But I have been staunchly anti-piracy for decades now. Piracy as a youth seems almost a given... chronically short of money, with lots of free time, and inexperience in how theft hurts IP holders and ultimately the people who want good product. It's a recipe tailor made for "sharing" information.

 

[rust]

There is also the problem that a PDF cannot be sold to someone else. If
I buy a book, I own it and can sell it to someone else once I do no longer
want or need it, for example by selling it to another member of the local
roleplaying club or by putting it up for sale on Ebay. It still has a financial
value I am aware of, so I would hesitate to just give it away freely. Not so
a PDF, it is a financially valueless immaterial nothing, and there is even
less incentive to think about giving it away than with a cleenex - if I give
the cleenex away, I have one cleenex less, if I give the PDF away, I still
have it.

 

[GamerDude]

While I basically agree with this, I have to admit that I tend to ignore the copyright if there is no active copyright holder, for example when a com- pany has disappeared and no other company took over and continues to
sell the material in question.
...
This is a case where, well, my respect for the copyright is rather low.

In the US, copyright has never expired once the author died or the publishing company went out of business.

I don't believe that would be the case in the UK otherwise works by Tolkien, CS Lewis, etc would have dropped out of copyright protection the moment they died.

In the US, copyright protection extends for at least 50 to 75 years after publication, although the specific items (book music computer program) do factor into exactly how far that goes (a computer program work by a group copy right at least use to expire 75 years after the last contributing author died).

I'm no lawyer in any country but I do believe in people being paid for their work and am a strong believer in copyright. I'll admit to in my early 20's when computers were really hitting their strides with the Commodore's and Atari's that I wasn't so "enlightened" but that mindset had past before I turned 27.

 

[DFW]

I'm no lawyer in any country but I do believe in people being paid for their work and am a strong believer in copyright. I'll admit to in my early 20's when computers were really hitting their strides with the Commodore's and Atari's that I wasn't so "enlightened" but that mindset had past before I turned 27.

rust wasn't talking about not paying the copyright owner.

 

[rust]

... but I do believe in people being paid for their work and am a strong believer in copyright.

If there is nobody left to pay (author dead, company disbanded) or there
is no work done to pay for (copyright holder does not publish and sell), co-
pyright has in my view lost its sense.

 

[GamerDude]

... but I do believe in people being paid for their work and am a strong believer in copyright.

If there is nobody left to pay (author dead, company disbanded) or there
is no work done to pay for (copyright holder does not publish and sell), co-
pyright has in my view lost its sense.

it is called an "ESTATE", managed by someone... executor named in the will, or by the courts doing probate etc.

Personally, "no one to pay" means to me "no, i didn't feel like being bothered and now I have a rationalization to not pay.