Pipeline - Mar 20, 2012

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

They wouldn't. However, if Marvel or Comixology went out of business then that means that the services they provided would be terminated. That could very well include access to those servers from where you're retrieving your digital copies. It's impossible to believe that the company would outright die, yet their services wouldn't. If Microsoft or Adobe were to die today do you think you'd have future access to their activation servers? Not likely. Marvel or Comixology dies and your digital purchase would probably die with them, unless some other company purchases the rights to the data management.

And if Comixology dies too? Not impossible.

As long as there is warning, and there usually is, we could download them first to keep on the device.

Steam have said they'll tell people how to unlock their purchases if they go bust, why wouldn't other companies?

Comixology goes bust, the next week there will be guides online on how to get the comics out of the app, if there aren't already.

That "piracy backup" option is going to go bye bye in due course. Napster was good while it lasted too, but even it saw its day in the "free for all" sun come to an end.

There will always be a piracy option - I disagree with it, but I'll do it if they take the comics I have bought back.

We used to record cassetes, then copy CD's, then there was napster, currently there's torrenting. Tomorrow, there will be something else.

The entertainment companies can try as hard as they like to stop me - if they didn't intend me to be able to keep the files permanently, they shouldn't have used the words 'buy' and 'purchase' in the transaction.
If they solve piracy, as you claim, then DRM's will be lifted, and we can keep the digital files however we see fit, and back them up to protect them.

25+ years and counting on my print collection so far. Will you be able to say the same thing for digital copies stored in the cloud? How do you even know that it'll exist in 30 years? I know, in my own hands, I can take steps to make sure my print collection is around for the next 30 years. I've got no control over the state of those off-site servers and storage centers we call the cloud. It's all about control. Who should have control over your property and purchases? Do you trust big brother or do you trust only yourself because you're the only one who can "do it right"? I'd rather bet my money on me. I don't trust any faceless organization to have my best interests at heart.

And there's a million ways that print comics can be damaged - clumsiness, pets, mold, flooding, fire, earthquake, thieves etc.

The cloud probably won't exist in thirty years - there will be something different.
Whatever it is, I'll be using it for my digital comics, and it won't take up as much space as the print comics will.

[cookepuss]

As long as there is warning, and there usually is, we could download them first to keep on the device.

And when your device dies you're sol.

Steam have said they'll tell people how to unlock their purchases if they go bust, why wouldn't other companies?

Hey, FunkyGreenJerusalem. Right before I die, I'm going to will you my entire estate. No takesies backsies. For real. I promise. You have far too much faith in others. Just because I say I'll do something doesn't mean that I will. A company goes to shit and, in the chaos, things get lost in the shuffle. They give you the means to do what they promised, but its such a half-assed solution that you might as well hack the system yourself. I've seen it happen. Don't trust those faceless companies so much. They're run by actual flawed people.

Comixology goes bust, the next week there will be guides online on how to get the comics out of the app, if there aren't already.

True, but how long before the guides or tools you need get yanked by lawyers. It has happened in the past with DVD or ROM ripping tools, for old cart-based games. It's only through the efforts of a small, persistent group that some of those tools keep appearing online - barely.

There will always be a piracy option

To what degree we don't know. Until now, ISPs have been pretty relaxed. It seems as if they've been cracking down, but they really haven't. More and more pressure is being put on them. Lawyers are up their asses. Their bandwidth is getting killed. Pretty soon, sooner than we think, they'll make it so difficult that you might as well shoplift from your local store.

Oh, and there's that little thing called the law. You don't think that governments will start applying stiffer penalties, something more than fines, soon? With enough special interest groups like the RIAA & MPAA getting politicians in their pockets, those copyright offenses that are currently civil infractions will soon become criminal ones that are punishable by real jail time. Not just for the ring leaders, but also the little guys too. Wait. It'll happen. Corporations have a huge amount of say in the operation of the government, operating at all times in the shadows and greasing the right palms. The cigarette and credit card companies pretty much stand as a monument to that sort of sleaziness.

We used to record cassetes, then copy CD's, then there was napster, currently there's torrenting. Tomorrow, there will be something else.

Building a better mousetrap doesn't always guarantee the creation of a better mouse. Nothing is unhackable, but you can make it prohibitively difficult for the masses to do so. BS numbers here, but... Suppose you've got 30% of online users pirating stuff now. Future IP holders can make their protection scheme so convoluted that this number drops down to 3%. That's like saying, "People will always steal cars." Sure they will, but build better locks, alarms, and on-board computers and you'll ensure that fewer people can actually do it. The complexity level or the type of scheme alone is enough to dissuade people.

if they didn't intend me to be able to keep the files permanently, they shouldn't have used the words 'buy' and 'purchase' in the transaction.

And people will take them to court. The companies will change the wording from "buy" to "license" and you'll be quickly shut up, at least on that bit of semantics. This logic has already been tried in court with companies like Autodesk before, which claimed that you couldn't resell their digital product because they never sold it to you - only licensed it. They still have the word "buy" on their site, but are very clear that you're only buying a license for the product and not the product itself.

If they solve piracy, as you claim,

Piracy won't ever be solved. ISP, governments, and special interest groups are just going to make it so difficult that it's not even worth the while of most people. It'll continue to exist, but the players will all creep back to the shadows and operate in lesser numbers. The black market create for this stuff will still exist, but you won't have Joe Schmoe doing it just because he can. It'll only be for the hardcore at a certain point. Look at other crimes in the world.

And there's a million ways that print comics can be damaged - clumsiness, pets, mold, flooding, fire, earthquake, thieves etc.

True, but can you see a digital comic surviving a bazillion years like the Dead Sea Scrolls? There's always an advantage to print, as there is digital too. It'll take me hours to tear up and destroy my print comic collection. I can delete my digital collection in 2 seconds with the click of a button.

The cloud probably won't exist in thirty years - there will be something different.

Ah! But will you be able to migrate your former purchase. If so, will it be easy for the average person to do it? The PS4 will replace the PS3 and people will have an option to play Sony games. Doesn't mean that it'll be backward compatible or that getting your old games to work will be easy.

[dancj]

Good new column (which I read on my new iPad).

Even before e Comixology update the comics were showing in full retina display glory so I don't know why they felt the need to up the resolution of the comics. That's only any use for guided reading - which would be a really strange thing to do on the iPad (unless you've got a problem with your eyes).

At current prices and drm I'm not going to consider buying comics digitally, but I think that when I go on holiday I'll probably illegally download a bunch of books I already own in physical form just so I can avoid using up my baggage allowance.

[NCatron]

Good new column (which I read on my new iPad).

Even before e Comixology update the comics were showing in full retina display glory so I don't know why they felt the need to up the resolution of the comics. That's only any use for guided reading - which would be a really strange thing to do on the iPad (unless you've got a problem with your eyes).

If you wanted to zoom in on a portion of a page to see greater detail, all you get is a blur at the previous resolution. Now you can zoom in and it still looks glorious.

Another argument FOR digital comics - with iPad 3 & CMX-HD they look BETTER than the floppies, especially for those titles using poor paperstock.

[cookepuss]

Another argument FOR digital comics - with iPad 3 & CMX-HD they look BETTER than the floppies, especially for those titles using poor paperstock.

Definitely. I snagged my iPad 3 last week, the 64gb wifi, and comics just look gorgeous on it. Digital just beats print in visual quality. Jaw dropping.

[dancj]

If you wanted to zoom in on a portion of a page to see greater detail, all you get is a blur at the previous resolution. Now you can zoom in and it still looks glorious.

oh I know - but it's already better than print quality without the increased file sizes. It's good for people who want to zoom in I guess

[cookepuss]

oh I know - but it's already better than print quality without the increased file sizes. It's good for people who want to zoom in I guess

Even better for artists like Bryan Hitch or Art Adams who like obscene amounts of detail. Also good for artists who want to make use of reusable CG sets or photographic background mattes, both of which are being done now but to far smaller degrees.