5 ms·

So, free access to a digital version of the comic led more people to buy the physical vesion. What about when the physical version doesn't exist anymore or is m

by macrael 16y ago

So, free access to a digital version of the comic led more people to buy the physical vesion. What about when the physical version doesn't exist anymore or is more completely substitutable with a digital version? Digital distribution is fantastic and is still in the process of changing many industries, but I think that this case likely would not have had the large beneficial effect for the author had it happened in a day when the distributed digital good was just as good/easy as the physical, purchasable one.

kqr2 16y ago
But doesn't this example show that people want physical copies. As long as people want an item, there will be a market for it. Traditional print runs may no longer exist, however, print on demand may continue to grow. For example, Hacker News magazine uses Magcloud for printing and distribution. http://www.magcloud.com/ http://www.magcloud.com/ HN folks are among the most tech savvy people, yet there is still a demand for print copies.
- jacoblyles 16y ago
  People may just want physical copies because they don't have iPads yet.
  - jacoblyles 16y ago
    Since I'm at -4, I just wanted to clarify that comics on the iPad are gorgeous. You can count on comic consumers desiring the physical product when the alternative is a PDF on their laptop. The experience on the iPad is far superior to that and a much better substitute for the real thing. And by "iPad" I mean the iPad and future tablets.
- tedunangst 16y ago
  People like physical books. They're less enthusiastic about physical music or movies, which are the subjects in most discussions about piracy.
  - shantanubala 16y ago
    Exactly. As soon as E-Readers become the norm, I'll bet physical books will be a collector's item just like Vinyl (mostly) or CDs (almost) are.
- Groxx 16y ago
  >But doesn't this example show that people want physical copies[?] Depends. Sometimes they do so for higher quality + to "give" money to the creator. Graphic novel fans (and Anime fans) pretty frequently buy the item they downloaded if/when it comes out, and if they think it was good. Trans/Scanlations are pretty much directly responsible for creating originally-Japanese-media sales in the US; while this is an English one, it's still likely being read by a lot from the same group of people.
- macrael 16y ago
  Right now, they do. But as digital substitutes get better, the physical market is going to shrink. Books and comics are just data, there is no reason they won't go the same way as music and movies, by which I mean, better and easier to deal with in digital form than in the physical. Honestly, beyond that little truth, I don't think that it makes too much sense to draw lots of parallels between these industries. Use patterns for books movies and music are very different, as are their creation. Each industry is going to have to sort out on it's own how to deal with the brave new future.
kiba 16y ago
Piracy does lead the British to dominate the American literacy market when there was no foreign copyright recognized. Some even get paid. Charles Dicken doesn't like it though. American writers were the one freaked out by all those competition.

by macrael 16y ago

kqr2 16y ago

But doesn't this example show that people want physical copies. As long as people want an item, there will be a market for it. Traditional print runs may no longer exist, however, print on demand may continue to grow. For example, Hacker News magazine uses Magcloud for printing and distribution. http://www.magcloud.com/ http://www.magcloud.com/ HN folks are among the most tech savvy people, yet there is still a demand for print copies.

jacoblyles 16y ago
People may just want physical copies because they don't have iPads yet.
- jacoblyles 16y ago
  Since I'm at -4, I just wanted to clarify that comics on the iPad are gorgeous. You can count on comic consumers desiring the physical product when the alternative is a PDF on their laptop. The experience on the iPad is far superior to that and a much better substitute for the real thing. And by "iPad" I mean the iPad and future tablets.
tedunangst 16y ago
People like physical books. They're less enthusiastic about physical music or movies, which are the subjects in most discussions about piracy.
- shantanubala 16y ago
  Exactly. As soon as E-Readers become the norm, I'll bet physical books will be a collector's item just like Vinyl (mostly) or CDs (almost) are.
Groxx 16y ago
>But doesn't this example show that people want physical copies[?] Depends. Sometimes they do so for higher quality + to "give" money to the creator. Graphic novel fans (and Anime fans) pretty frequently buy the item they downloaded if/when it comes out, and if they think it was good. Trans/Scanlations are pretty much directly responsible for creating originally-Japanese-media sales in the US; while this is an English one, it's still likely being read by a lot from the same group of people.
macrael 16y ago
Right now, they do. But as digital substitutes get better, the physical market is going to shrink. Books and comics are just data, there is no reason they won't go the same way as music and movies, by which I mean, better and easier to deal with in digital form than in the physical. Honestly, beyond that little truth, I don't think that it makes too much sense to draw lots of parallels between these industries. Use patterns for books movies and music are very different, as are their creation. Each industry is going to have to sort out on it's own how to deal with the brave new future.

kiba 16y ago

Piracy does lead the British to dominate the American literacy market when there was no foreign copyright recognized. Some even get paid. Charles Dicken doesn't like it though. American writers were the one freaked out by all those competition.