4 ms·

Disagree. I've never bought a comedy DVD in my life, because frankly, an hour of humor isn't worth $15 + the overhead of receiving a package and storing a physi

by lukev 15y ago

Disagree. I've never bought a comedy DVD in my life, because frankly, an hour of humor isn't worth $15 + the overhead of receiving a package and storing a physical artifact in perpetuity. But $5, I can have it in seconds, and forget about it until I want it again? Different story entirely. So I bought it. I don't think I did it because it was an experiment - if every comedian released stuff like this, I feel like I'd regularly spend money on comedy which now, I frankly don't.

citricsquid 15y ago
You're proving my entire point. You bought this because it's an experiment, you wanted to validate the experiment.
- lukev 15y ago
  Of course this is personal analysis of my own motivations and thus hardly scientific, but yeah, my whole point was that I think I would buy this even if it wasn't an experiment. I didn't buy Trent Reznor or Radiohead's experiments because I don't like their music, but I did want to see this show, so I bought it.
  - natep 15y ago
    Because two points make a line and therefore are irrefutable (ha ha), I'd like to add that I also passed on those experiments and bought the DVD. It was $5, just like the games I tend to buy on Steam. But if it were $15+, I would have passed, like I have on the rest of his DVDs.
- gillygize 15y ago
  But there is also the lower price to consider. Even if the rarity of the event brought more purchases, with $5 vs the $15 or $20 it would have cost in a more tradition method of sales, the price alone would certainly bring in some customers who would not have paid the higher price.
- r0s 15y ago
  Unless he likes the business model, and it meets his needs. The novelty of the model is unrelated to it's efficacy.
- barrkel 15y ago
  He's not. He's making a point about the transformative nature of price, lack of DRM encumberance and immediate gratification. These are behind the success of itunes as well.
- roguecoder 15y ago
  No, he bought it because it was a better product at a lower price point that currently-available comedy, making the marginal value of the product lower that the marginal cost to him. If he had bought it and not watched it, he'd have been validating the experiment. As it is, he's just an anecdotal example of someone on the right hand side of the supply-demand curve. Reality validated the experiment, not manipulative consumers (of course, reality has a well-known liberal bias...)
vacri 15y ago
Why can't you rip the physical disk?
- barrkel 15y ago
  How do you get a physical disk in seconds for $5? Are we reading the same comment?
- vidarh 15y ago
  The point is he considers receiving and having to rip and/or store the disk as an additional cost on top of the $15. It widens the gap between the $5 download and the $15 disk further because he has more hassle to get the same functionality.
  - vacri 15y ago
    The point is that he's gilding the lily. He doesn't have to store the physical artifact in perpetuity, he can format shift it and make it like his $5 purchase. Sure, it's more work for him, and makes the effective cost more than $5. But he's not forced to store the physical artifact forever.
    - gte910h 15y ago
      No, I can't rip a physical disk without considerable effort and learning and trial and error. I have one machine with an optical drive, and no ripping program I know how to use to rip a DVD. You think because you can format shift something everyone else has the time, inclination, hardware and software to do so.
      - vacri 15y ago
        Are you serious? With the amount of effort you've spent complaining here, you could have already found out how to do it. And it's a one-time learning thing - once you know, you'll know for next time too. Software is free. Handbrake is popular. You have the hardware. Time is trivial. Seriously, unless you have eight kids, you have the time. And frankly, people had the time before digital downloads became popular over the last few years - society hasn't changed that much. The only argument you have is 'inclination', and frankly that's an argument against anything. There are people who prefer physical disks because they like the physical entity and find digital-only to be too ephemeral (witness the endless screeds against Steam not existing in the future, for example). Their inclination is the opposite of yours. Your argument style is simply to grossly exaggerate the point. I also find it amusing that you follow a tech startup blog that markets itself to 'hackers', yet consider learning how to rip a disk 'considerable effort'.

by lukev 15y ago

citricsquid 15y ago

You're proving my entire point. You bought this because it's an experiment, you wanted to validate the experiment.

lukev 15y ago
Of course this is personal analysis of my own motivations and thus hardly scientific, but yeah, my whole point was that I think I would buy this even if it wasn't an experiment. I didn't buy Trent Reznor or Radiohead's experiments because I don't like their music, but I did want to see this show, so I bought it.
- natep 15y ago
  Because two points make a line and therefore are irrefutable (ha ha), I'd like to add that I also passed on those experiments and bought the DVD. It was $5, just like the games I tend to buy on Steam. But if it were $15+, I would have passed, like I have on the rest of his DVDs.
gillygize 15y ago
But there is also the lower price to consider. Even if the rarity of the event brought more purchases, with $5 vs the $15 or $20 it would have cost in a more tradition method of sales, the price alone would certainly bring in some customers who would not have paid the higher price.
r0s 15y ago
Unless he likes the business model, and it meets his needs. The novelty of the model is unrelated to it's efficacy.
barrkel 15y ago
He's not. He's making a point about the transformative nature of price, lack of DRM encumberance and immediate gratification. These are behind the success of itunes as well.
roguecoder 15y ago
No, he bought it because it was a better product at a lower price point that currently-available comedy, making the marginal value of the product lower that the marginal cost to him. If he had bought it and not watched it, he'd have been validating the experiment. As it is, he's just an anecdotal example of someone on the right hand side of the supply-demand curve. Reality validated the experiment, not manipulative consumers (of course, reality has a well-known liberal bias...)

vacri 15y ago

Why can't you rip the physical disk?

barrkel 15y ago
How do you get a physical disk in seconds for $5? Are we reading the same comment?
vidarh 15y ago
The point is he considers receiving and having to rip and/or store the disk as an additional cost on top of the $15. It widens the gap between the $5 download and the $15 disk further because he has more hassle to get the same functionality.
- vacri 15y ago
  The point is that he's gilding the lily. He doesn't have to store the physical artifact in perpetuity, he can format shift it and make it like his $5 purchase. Sure, it's more work for him, and makes the effective cost more than $5. But he's not forced to store the physical artifact forever.
  - gte910h 15y ago
    No, I can't rip a physical disk without considerable effort and learning and trial and error. I have one machine with an optical drive, and no ripping program I know how to use to rip a DVD. You think because you can format shift something everyone else has the time, inclination, hardware and software to do so.
    - vacri 15y ago
      Are you serious? With the amount of effort you've spent complaining here, you could have already found out how to do it. And it's a one-time learning thing - once you know, you'll know for next time too. Software is free. Handbrake is popular. You have the hardware. Time is trivial. Seriously, unless you have eight kids, you have the time. And frankly, people had the time before digital downloads became popular over the last few years - society hasn't changed that much. The only argument you have is 'inclination', and frankly that's an argument against anything. There are people who prefer physical disks because they like the physical entity and find digital-only to be too ephemeral (witness the endless screeds against Steam not existing in the future, for example). Their inclination is the opposite of yours. Your argument style is simply to grossly exaggerate the point. I also find it amusing that you follow a tech startup blog that markets itself to 'hackers', yet consider learning how to rip a disk 'considerable effort'.