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Message: <blockquote data-quote="scott-fs" data-source="post: 1593116" data-attributes="member: 5714">I stand by my statement that Ideas are free.  It is the expression of those ideas are what have value.  I don't place value on an mp3 that exists solely on my harddrive, and which was downloaded from Kazaa.  I do place value on the cd in my cd binder, and of which contains the music that I enjoy.  The mp3 itself has no value because I could delete them all right now and my life would not be lessened by it (in this instance, I have all the cds by the group I was (and am) still listening to).  I still have the cd which I used to extract the track, and could re-extract them if I chose.I realized that after I posted that message, that it was alot longer than I expected.  I also realize that I may have posted some things that seemed contradictory, and which might contradict what I say above.  After reviewing my message I think the main issue was in my reference to content.  I'll have to contemplate this some more, after I've had an opportunity to sleep.  I reserve the right to revise my philosophy of the value of a tangible and intangible item, to make it understandable to the general public.Well, ideas do grow on trees.  They are all around us.  What takes time and energy is in expressing those ideas.The music as an expression of an idea does have value to me.  The container of that expression (an mp3) doesn't have value.  That's why I probably would never buy mp3s online, because while I value the music, the file itself I do not.  The main reason I wouldn't buy music online is that for the money paid, I want a tangible object.  Something I can hold, which would be the container of the content I paid for.  I don't consider a downloaded mp3 to have any inherrent value, and the overall value of the content is diluted because I do not have a physical copy.  Yes, I could always burn a copy to a cd.  Unfortunately, many mp3s that you might download are lower quality than I prefer.  Burning a lower quality mp3 to a cd will still result in a low quality mp3  if you subsequently extract it to make a 320bitrate file.  While 128bitrate may be common, I prefer mine at 320.  The only way I can be sure that the file will be at that quality is if I extract it from an original cd myself.  The result of the extraction ends up being of greater value to me, since I know it is of that quality.  I will acknowledge that mp3s collectively have some inherrent value as you can collect them together and form them into a playlist, saving my cds from the wear of spinning them in a cd player (and swapping them).This just might be irrelevant.What this comes down to is that I prefer (and value) having a physical object.  When I do come across content online (downloaded music, gaming product, PC games, etc) which I use and enjoy very much (many good European bands for instance), I do go to the effort of locating a source to purchase a physical copy of their content.Enjoyment of content is separate from the value I hold to how it is contained.  In fact, I'd probably hold more value for some gaming products if the publisher produced and distributed their material by cd, compared to if I was only able to download them.  Same content, but in the first instance it is tied to a physical object.As mentioned previously (and this not just from myself) ideas are available without cost.  The content that expresses those ideas can be made available for a price.  I just don't hold an electronic file to have as much value on it's own, as compared to one tied to a physical object.That is the best way I can explain it, and I hope there isn't much more confusion regarding this.</blockquote>

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