Malhavoc copy/paste eased
- Thread starter The Sigil
- Start date
- Status
JeffB
Legend
I cannot speak for everyone obviously, but I am one of those folks who don't buy PDFs very often and responded on that particular thread. However I did not vote since neither of the options were sufficient.
But I probably could vote now, as I went through the entire PITA process last night to get the free Gamma World PHB just to test the waters.
No thanks...very unfriendly site, lotta hoops to jump through (especially for someone who is not so computer savvy), and I don't like the whole "privacy" and "rental" mentality.
Psion
Adventurer
Bendris Noulg said:Well, being that the supposed guarantee is trumpted by a 15 minute Google search, I'd say their primary business model is screwed.
One of my high school history teachers taught me one very important principle in that class: it's not as important what is true as what people beleive to be true.
Regardless of the fact that you and I beleive that the safeguards are laughable, White Wolf, Eden, Necromancer and all the other publishers who previously were to skittish to try it out before are now offering their products in electronic format. They fell for Adobe's marketing; their fans who are better off than before stand to benefit.
Last edited:
Rodrigo Istalindir
Explorer
This brings up one of my biggest problems with DRM. Despite being to the consumer's benefit, the fact remains that they just retroactively changed how you can use your product.
Once I buy a print copy, or a .pdf unencumbered by DRM, it is mine to use as I see fit. I despise the fact that with something DRM'd, six months or six years down the road, some bean-counter somewhere can decide that he wants to change my rights to my product, and there is nothing I can do about it.
DRM is completely, 100% not in the consumers' interest.
Once I buy a print copy, or a .pdf unencumbered by DRM, it is mine to use as I see fit. I despise the fact that with something DRM'd, six months or six years down the road, some bean-counter somewhere can decide that he wants to change my rights to my product, and there is nothing I can do about it.
DRM is completely, 100% not in the consumers' interest.
Will I buy, no. Its not the DRM that stops me its those outrageous prices. I've seen some of pdfs selling for $32 about the same as the book costs. But I will continue to go to that site. They are offering a different free product every week from what I've read and I have no problem getting free products that I've actually heard of. Right now exalted and d20 gamma world are free if your wondering.
Desdichado
Hero
I almost certainly will not. I already don't buy pdfs very often, preferring the feel of a good book. The only reason I did buy pdfs was to cut and paste, on occasion. But my utility for pdfs, to use an Econ term from my college days, was already marginal. One more complication to go through and I'm not really very interested.The Sigil said:
Also, only one of my computers is connected to the Internet. If I want to move anything to the other computer, I guess I'm SOL. Since my wife is often on that computer in the evening, doing her email or balancing the checkbook with online banking, I'm starting to think the second string computer may be the one I use much more often for my tinkering around.
Mystery Man
First Post
Of topic - What PDF reading/writing programs are out there for Linux?
I'd like to run something native (not in wine) that will write, and save to those nifty form/character sheet pdf's.
I'd like to run something native (not in wine) that will write, and save to those nifty form/character sheet pdf's.
Last edited:
DSC-EricPrice
First Post
I think its a step in the right direction to increase the page copy limit. Unfortunately, DRM seems to have one significant drawback that can not be dealt with easily or quickly.
DRM creates a barrier to use for legitimate paying consumers. Given two products of similiar "worth" to the customer, I am quite sure the customer will choose a traditional pdf over a DRM-pdf. Several users have expanded on the technical and philosophical reasons for doing so. Personally, I agree that most of them are legitimate concerns. Like digital music, I see the tying of a digital product in perpetuity to a specific computer as short sighted and unworkable. Moreso when it requires an active Internet connection to work. I used a similar situation at my local library during my graduate work, and I must admit it was cumbersome and irritating. For a reference work that I was um, referencing for a very specific topic it was understandable and bearable, but for an entertainment community Im not sure its a valid model. While it MAY provide protection against piracy, it places a burden on the consumer that many consumers believe is unecessary and unjustifed. I must admit it is unlikely that I will have my Thinkpad T30 (which is a year old now) two years from now. When my thinkpad returns off lease, or I buy a new computer, I lose access to these documents unless some kind of migration system is in place. As I understand it, no such system is in place. I might accept that my license to use the product expires after three years, but that seems to call for prices to drop dramatically. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the model adopted by the company in question.
Pricing being a topic of interest in several of these posts, consider this. If the price of a book from a DRM based site is the same as the print version (which is something that has been alleged by a few, I havent researched it to know) then the company is already ahead the cost of the printing. Couple that with the much LARGER chunk normally eaten up by the middleman (the distributors of old) and you see that it would be possible to knock off 30-40% of the retail price of the product, still cover the technology costs of the delivery method, and still make the same profit as before. Instead, we see people apparently aiming for larger profit margins OR coddling up in an effort to prevent a backlash in the print distributor / retailer network they are still very much a part of.
These aren't new issues. Every industry has considered and proposed possible solutions for the new "digital economy". Piracy in the digital age will continue to be an issue I suspect, and will continue to affect sales. That is, until such time that we as a society develop enough of a moral conscience to say "someone worked to produce this book, and I respect them for it. I will see that they are compensated, no matter how I obtained the book." Unfortunately the anonymity apparently provided by the Internet is a hard obstacle for us to overcome. I think the psychologists and socioligists among us can speak about the effects of perceived anonymity on human behavior...
I dont think suing people is the answer, and I don't think DRM and its tight fisted attempt at control is the answer.I'd like to see a hybrid evolve, where using a standardized tool like Windows Media Player I could access a piece of digital work on my own computer, or burn it to CD as dictated by the publisher. Have a key system thats portable. While it might not cut down on piracy, it would establish a trail from where the digital media originated. Those are just a couple of my thoughts. I look forward to reading yours.
DRM creates a barrier to use for legitimate paying consumers. Given two products of similiar "worth" to the customer, I am quite sure the customer will choose a traditional pdf over a DRM-pdf. Several users have expanded on the technical and philosophical reasons for doing so. Personally, I agree that most of them are legitimate concerns. Like digital music, I see the tying of a digital product in perpetuity to a specific computer as short sighted and unworkable. Moreso when it requires an active Internet connection to work. I used a similar situation at my local library during my graduate work, and I must admit it was cumbersome and irritating. For a reference work that I was um, referencing for a very specific topic it was understandable and bearable, but for an entertainment community Im not sure its a valid model. While it MAY provide protection against piracy, it places a burden on the consumer that many consumers believe is unecessary and unjustifed. I must admit it is unlikely that I will have my Thinkpad T30 (which is a year old now) two years from now. When my thinkpad returns off lease, or I buy a new computer, I lose access to these documents unless some kind of migration system is in place. As I understand it, no such system is in place. I might accept that my license to use the product expires after three years, but that seems to call for prices to drop dramatically. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the model adopted by the company in question.
Pricing being a topic of interest in several of these posts, consider this. If the price of a book from a DRM based site is the same as the print version (which is something that has been alleged by a few, I havent researched it to know) then the company is already ahead the cost of the printing. Couple that with the much LARGER chunk normally eaten up by the middleman (the distributors of old) and you see that it would be possible to knock off 30-40% of the retail price of the product, still cover the technology costs of the delivery method, and still make the same profit as before. Instead, we see people apparently aiming for larger profit margins OR coddling up in an effort to prevent a backlash in the print distributor / retailer network they are still very much a part of.
These aren't new issues. Every industry has considered and proposed possible solutions for the new "digital economy". Piracy in the digital age will continue to be an issue I suspect, and will continue to affect sales. That is, until such time that we as a society develop enough of a moral conscience to say "someone worked to produce this book, and I respect them for it. I will see that they are compensated, no matter how I obtained the book." Unfortunately the anonymity apparently provided by the Internet is a hard obstacle for us to overcome. I think the psychologists and socioligists among us can speak about the effects of perceived anonymity on human behavior...
I dont think suing people is the answer, and I don't think DRM and its tight fisted attempt at control is the answer.I'd like to see a hybrid evolve, where using a standardized tool like Windows Media Player I could access a piece of digital work on my own computer, or burn it to CD as dictated by the publisher. Have a key system thats portable. While it might not cut down on piracy, it would establish a trail from where the digital media originated. Those are just a couple of my thoughts. I look forward to reading yours.
Rodrigo Istalindir
Explorer
Mystery Man said:
Ghostscript for one. Also this link has other alternatives.
Works pretty well. I've used it (combined with a couple scripts and a port re-director) to give all my users basic .pdf writing capabilities. I still have licensed copies of the full Acrobat product for the content creating folks, but this is a nice alternative for those people that only need it once a month to send a document or some such.
- Status
Similar Threads
