17 March 2008, 3:36 AM
re: radiohead unfortunately, the downloadable version was compressed at a near-unlistenable 160kbps so many of those who paid for the download (myself included--I love the band and prefer the idea of supporting them directly rather than by proxy) were also forced to shell out more money for a physical CD copy in order to get a quality copy. However, the "quality copy" came, as most Radiohead albums did/do, in an interesting package featuring stickers, bonus booklets, etc., that improve the experience if only by offsetting the cost of physical delivery of the medium. I paid more for my physical copy than for the download...by about $2USD...and if I had known what I'd get by paying for the download I would have just waited.
re: the anime industry, I would like to see companies contract out translation work to fansub groups, who obviously put in a great deal of time and effort to bring something to the general public that they obviously love or care about a great deal...so much so that the final product is often superior to the later "official" releases, leading to the question of why people would pay for an inferior product.
Of course, LE sets are often used to offset this discrepancy and attract buyers who have already seen the series in question but are on-the-fence about purchasing an "official" release due to questionable quality...the perfect example being the Suzumiya Haruhi sets, where the fansubs are higher resolution and have better subtitles (more readable, anyway; i can't speak to their accuracy, not knowing Japanese).
This also raises the point of international support for a series; every set sold outside of Japan is another vote for the series to continue. The fans get to have their say through the purchase of an official product...so doesn't that mean the onus is on the domestic companies to produce official products of such quality that there is a real, justifiable reason beyond obligation to make the purchase and support the show?
I am of the mindset that there should be a trial period for all media...listening to/watching it once or a few times should be absolutely free (a la fansubs) and then those who enjoy the media sufficiently should be the ones paying for the product. In a parallel with the RIAA, however, I would prefer to paying my money directly to the creators of the work (see Radiohead, above) rather than a distributor or licensee. (I sure wish Noizi Ito saw more of my Haruhi money than Bandai did, but I suppose it can't be helped...yet)
sorry if this was a rambling post, it's still early in the dark regions of my brain.
re: the anime industry, I would like to see companies contract out translation work to fansub groups, who obviously put in a great deal of time and effort to bring something to the general public that they obviously love or care about a great deal...so much so that the final product is often superior to the later "official" releases, leading to the question of why people would pay for an inferior product.
Of course, LE sets are often used to offset this discrepancy and attract buyers who have already seen the series in question but are on-the-fence about purchasing an "official" release due to questionable quality...the perfect example being the Suzumiya Haruhi sets, where the fansubs are higher resolution and have better subtitles (more readable, anyway; i can't speak to their accuracy, not knowing Japanese).
This also raises the point of international support for a series; every set sold outside of Japan is another vote for the series to continue. The fans get to have their say through the purchase of an official product...so doesn't that mean the onus is on the domestic companies to produce official products of such quality that there is a real, justifiable reason beyond obligation to make the purchase and support the show?
I am of the mindset that there should be a trial period for all media...listening to/watching it once or a few times should be absolutely free (a la fansubs) and then those who enjoy the media sufficiently should be the ones paying for the product. In a parallel with the RIAA, however, I would prefer to paying my money directly to the creators of the work (see Radiohead, above) rather than a distributor or licensee. (I sure wish Noizi Ito saw more of my Haruhi money than Bandai did, but I suppose it can't be helped...yet)
sorry if this was a rambling post, it's still early in the dark regions of my brain.