I am fully aware that compensating people per copy sold is a deeply imperfect way of compensating labor (just like playing a live show doesn't become more work the more people buy tickets, or for that matter waiting a table becomes harder if they order more expensive food)
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That said, it really, honestly is the best way we have in a lot of fields, or at least the one many creators say works best for them If you have a way to make this unnecessary by signing up authors for a regular per-hour salary from the Art Factory, I'm all for it
1 reply 2 retweets 40 likes -
But until then, it's like sneaking into a concert and being all "I didn't steal anything, you were gonna play the same show either way" (an analogy I got from
@Hal_Duncan) You're technically correct but you're being a dick, especially if you actually say it directly to them1 reply 5 retweets 48 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @lunis and
Like "Okay I ordered the steak this time but I tipped you the same amount as if I ordered the burger You don't mind, right? I mean it's the same amount of work for *you* either way" Yeah okay dude it's legal but you violated a social convention that exists for a reason
2 replies 2 retweets 42 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @lunis and
“Our society uses a distributional rule whose practical outcome is designed to land us at a good approximation of justice” “I cheated the distributional rule because doing so didn’t work an intrinsic injustice” “Friendo, that’s nonresponsive to the purpose of the rule.”
1 reply 3 retweets 18 likes -
Replying to @lawnerdbarak @lunis and
I think what gets me here is that people do, in fact, understand that these systems are sloppy and inconsistently enforced, they're a form of price discrimination
1 reply 1 retweet 20 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @lawnerdbarak and
The single dollar I tip a bartender for getting me a glass of water doesn't actually cover their labor costs for being there to serve me The understanding is that I am being subsidized by the person who orders 4 or 5 overpriced mixed drinks, because they probably have more money
2 replies 1 retweet 33 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @lawnerdbarak and
And when you attack the underpinnings of these systems as being "irrational" ("Why should I have to tip based on a % of the bill?") you have a point but you aren't seeing the big picture of why that system exists and how if you remove it you gotta replace it
2 replies 3 retweets 36 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @lawnerdbarak and
Like, publishers are right that, regardless of the merits of ebooks to the consumer, ebooks have been very damaging to the industry in terms of price point People *perceive* the cost of an author's time and labor as being tied up in the physical book
3 replies 1 retweet 30 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @lawnerdbarak and
And people *perceive* that a digital file is "free" (because it's so easy to copy and share, or it feels like it should be) and paying for it is a "tip" It somehow *feels different* to copy a file than to steal an actual book Even though that's total fucking nonsense
3 replies 1 retweet 24 likes
"If I steal a physical book I have deprived someone of its use and that is fundamentally different from copying a file" Bitch the actual dead trees in that book cost like a total of $1 max to physically print in that form You can take as many of the physical objects as you want
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Replying to @arthur_affect @lawnerdbarak and
The price of a hardcover book was always a *ticket price*, it's an admission fee to get to see the text in the book before anyone else That's how the industry actually works, that's what the price is meant to cover
1 reply 1 retweet 15 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @lawnerdbarak and
And the fact that when there's no dead trees people see this price as illegitimate is actually pretty fucking disastrous
2 replies 1 retweet 14 likes - Show replies
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