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
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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
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Replying to @arthur_affect @lawnerdbarak and
Side note: this right here is why so many of the (then) big 6 teamed up/collided against Amazon ~10 years ago. They were deliberately selling ebooks at prices deemed too low by the industry to move kindles.
3 replies 2 retweets 8 likes
Right, and this reveals the nature of the play, and why calling the Big 6 trad publishers the "capitalists" in this equation misses the point Amazon could have sold the Kindle at a loss, as a loss leader to make money on expensive ebooks
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Replying to @arthur_affect @BeccaTheWitz and
They went the exact opposite direction They demanded the ebooks be cheap, so that they could move Kindles They don't actually care about the content, the delivery mechanism is the product, on which they intend to make a profit
2 replies 3 retweets 22 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @BeccaTheWitz and
They are fully profiting on people's growing perception that the true "service providers" are Big Tech and there's just this amorphous ocean of "content" out there that you pay Big Tech to give you access to and help you navigate
1 reply 4 retweets 27 likes - Show replies
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