Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 23:51:39 -0500
From: Joe <joe-AT-dunfee.com>
Subject: Re: PUPT: Puppet journals, other books on CD?


Mathieu, I knew you would respond enthusiastically.  But, I think I could
mention absolutely anything about puppets and you would do the same!

 You already mentioned the idea of freely copying the stuff... that is
actually one of the problems of doing such a project.  As soon as it hits
the digital world, the concern is that the laborers have just lost all
ability to be compensated for their work.

 Of course, there is a tradition on the internet of everyone just sharing
their work.  I do so with my own page. That so many people are willing to do
this is what makes the internet so great. However, the downside is that so
many people feel they can share OTHER people's copyrighted work. Perhaps the
puppeteer community would be better about this. But, I'm sure this issue is
reducing the growth of digital publication.

  I do have a few digital books... but they are public domain ones I
downloaded for free. It is interesting to note that one of these books is
Dicken's Christmas Carol.  The book was very popular as soon as it was
published. But there were so many pirated copies being made that he never
actually made money from the book. Enforcement of copyrights were eventually
strengthened.  But now, the digital age has made it easy for every
individual pirate to do make their own copy, and essentially impossible for
government to enforce the laws.  Could Dickens earn anything today if he
were to publish Christmas Carol electronically?

  On another issue, it seems that digital books cost around 50% of the cost
of a hard copy book.  For me, this is a high enough price that I would
rather pay for the hard copy. This way I can actually hold the book and know
that it won't be unreadable in 20 years. After all, you can't open the old
word processing files you have from 20 years ago... even 10 years would be a
problem. Additionally, reading off a computer screen is certainly not (and
may never be) equal to reading from a book.




Joe Dunfee  joe-AT-dunfee.com
Gordonville, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.



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