TerraMortim
New member
There was no hot air. I stated you don't offer anything that shows you can speak intelligently on the submit of marketing software and I stand by that. For some odd reason you believe that all you have to do is create software (as if it was cheap and easy to do) and then you never have to do anything else but just sit back while money just pours in from every direction forever.
How can somebody be so cluelessly wrong. Once the product is out in the market my fixed costs remain. I still have office space to pay for, utilities to pay for, maintenance/service costs on the equipment and software my developers use, professional IT staff to keep my systems running and provide proper disaster recovery to protect the expensive investments I've made in software development, audio engineering experts to provide me with algorithms and models for all the complex signal processing that goes into my software, salaries for my office staff, legal/marketing/distribution costs, and the list goes on. My marketing plan is based on selling so many units per given unit of time and I need those continued sales in order to not only cover those costs but also to provide continued support for the product. Any idea what percentage of the life cycle development costs of a product occur AFTER the product hits the market? I seriously doubt it. Modifying code at any step of a typical development cycle costs about 10 times what it cost to change it in the previous stage of that cycle. Modifying delivered production code is OUTRAGEOUSLY EXPENSIVE to do. The biggest component of my costs go to the highly skilled developers I still have to employ to add the features you want yet brag about not paying for.
Let's not even get started on the R&D costs of developing the next generation of the software. I can't stay in business forever on the current product so I have to CONSTANTLY be looking for new ideas and new technologies to take advantage of in the future. I have to push the boundaries and make major improvements every so often and release a new product with those new and radical features using new and radical technologies that weren't even a wild dream when I first conceived of the current product. That costs huge money too. Ever think of that? Where do you think I get the money to pay for those costs? From the money I make selling TODAY'S product, of course. What do you think the software companies do, sail the high seas in their pirate ships, brazenly flying their Jolly Rogers while they pirat-ize peaceful, honest vessels?
That's not a hard assed view on piracy. It's a view based on a) many years of experience in multiple aspects of the business, and b) the fact that I understand what theft of service is - illegal. That's what software piracy is, plain and simple. You seem to have this asinine idea that pirates are sticking it to the rich, that they deserve to have it stuck to them, and that the masses should be thanking the pirates for awakening them to the atrocities thrust upon them. What nonsense. A doctor won't let you sit in his/her office while he/she sees paying patients. A lawyer won't let you sit in his/her office while he/she discusses cases with paying clients. A financial planner won't let you sit on sessions with paying clients. A tutor won't let you sit in while he/she tutors struggling, honest students. A university won't let you sit in on classes attended by paying students. The cable company won't let you tap into their lines to get every porn channel known to man. Those are all thefts of service, just like software piracy.
How about you leave your door open so all of us with hard ass views on piracy come over and use your studio when you're not there. You've bragged endlessly here about what a dishonest businessman you are so I would *never* consider using you to be my engineer, no matter how extensive your skills or how reasonable your rates are. However, if you're out taking your dog for a walk, at your girlfriend's house getting some, on vacation, or whatever, then you're clearly not using your studio. That means there are plenty of times I'm ENTITLED to just walk into your home or place of business and use everything for free, right? Right?! You weren't using it so there's no harm in me doing it. It's just there for the taking.
Convince me that if you came home after being away for a week and saw that someone broke into your home/studio while you were away, you wouldn't call the police. No, not you, you'd assume it was some poor person with outrageous audio engineering skills who has been ripped off by the rich fat cats who make pro audio gear. You'd of course conclude that person deserves to use your studio for free because "the man" has been sticking it to them and that's the reason they can't afford their own gear. And altruistic you wouldn't stop there. No way!!!!! You'd find out who they are so you could invite them and all their highly skilled yet poor colleagues to record for free in your studio anytime they wanted.
Puh-lease ...... Like I said, give me some facts that you can back up. Give me facts you learned from real experience. All you keep throwing out are the same illogical ideas about the rich software companies are purposely screwing the little guy. They're doing nothing of the kind. They're making business plans that maximizes the money they can make from a product. If their research shows they can make more money by selling fewer units for more money then that's EXACTLY what they'll do. If they're research instead shows that they'll make more money from selling many more units of lower priced units that's EXACTLY what they'll do. Of course, they'll only do that if they've proved to themselves that they'll be able to sell - are you paying attention? - THE RIGHT NUMBER OF LEGITIMATE COPIES AT THAT LOW PRICE. If they can't sell enough then they'll look for another business model, like selling fewer high priced units. If that happens then guess what - that would be YOUR fault. So who's the person screwing the little guy, hmmm?
Keep in mind, that I have this entire time been more on about music piracy than software, which is a very different business. Music piracy IS sticking it to the rich fat cats...the artists are screwed one way or another, as per the record label's business model. You want to see some dishonest businessmen, look there. I've bragged about being a dishonest businessman? Obviously you're at it again with your assumptions. BTW, I don't tend to do engineering professionally. I'm more on the creative side of production, scoring, songwriting, arranging, remixing, stuff like that... I do engineer out of necessity but I don't bill myself as that.
You make better points than most, and I can agree with you. You kind of miss what I'm saying a bit, but at least you can go beyond the shit that is usual on this subject. It's a good analogy kind of with the service thing, however it's only if you view software as a service and not a product. It's more of a matter of interpretation as to whether that analogy works. I would consider theft of service more like if you were coding for a company and they refused to pay you afterwords. And what you keep missing is, that I do buy all the software I can afford. I do understand that there is a vast amount of work put into software, and do believe that one should support these hard working individuals. One of the only gripes that I do have is when you get a company charging the same price for a plugin as the entire logic studio. You obviously are intimate with the world of software development, so you tell me..what's going to take more money to create? I mean, as a professional in creating software, I would think you would see that for what ridiculousness it is.
To be honest. If someone wanted to ask me to use my gear when I wasn't using it, sure why not? I'd love the opportunity to help out someone who isn't able to afford anything on their own. I believe in treating people as I would like to be treated. So yes, if you wanted to use my studio, for free, when I wasn't using it, because you were unfortunate enough to be too poor to afford it, my answer is..I'd welcome it with open arms. Then again, I know what it is to go through the gutter. My life experiences make me feel for people in that sort of situation, but that's besides the point. Of course, this would only be when I weren't using my gear. I mean, if it's just going to sit there when I'm away, why shouldn't I help someone else out who is in need. Life isn't all about money, my friend.
Never said anything about rich software companies screwing everyone. I did mention some companies with their heads up their asses as far as what to charge for their prices in some cases. When I'm mentioning these huge conglomerates and sticking it to them, I'm speaking of big media and their products... music. It's a different industry than you are in, and if you aren't aware of the reality of that industry (record labels), then I suggest either doing some research on the subject, or talk to anyone (even big names) who's been under contract with one such a company, and see what they think about the way they've been "taken care of".
Software that is astronomically priced is far more pirated than something that more people on a normal budget can afford. What's the most pirated software? Photoshop. Seen the prices for that piece of software? I could spend a ton of time citing this and that to you, but really why bother? That information isn't hard to find with some net searches. I can see your thinking, however there is a much higher chance of mass piracy of software that is way too expensive for everyone, than something people can afford. If you throw an insane price tag on something, due to the fact that piracy is an option, the multitudes who can't afford it, will turn to piracy. The internet, and P2P has caused a few industries to have to adjust their business models or die. Now, there is another option, so because of that, regardless of who thinks what is right or wrong, one must adapt or die.. Believe it or not, a lot of people who are demonized for downloading pirated software are just as likely to buy everything they can as the next guy.
I can assure you, not one company has lost money on account of my piracy, as when I can afford it, I buy it, just as if piracy weren't an option. There are some who don't care about buying anything, that's for them to work out. I always do my best.
