Couriers in the Machine: Using Piracy to lower distribution costs
Hey there!
So either I've been dead or in a coma or something, because This thing hasn't been updated in 2 weeks. I am neither, BUT I am something which is preventing me from updating on a regular basis. Is it a super-secret relaunch and redesign? Is it a crazy blog import to a more accessible platform like Wordpress? Is it death or a coma?
Anyway, I ran across this little article on Games For Change, a blog and group I follow for news on how games are being used in novel and prosocial ways in the world at large. After all, the great US of A, for all our great gaming wiles, is not the be-all-end-all of the industry. In fact, not truer words could be spoken if I were to speak of how perpetuating the industry requires an investment in the world market. And not just in terms of entertainment, but in terms of betterment. I think this is where all man-made industries should do their best to end up in, regardless of whatever evil forces may attempt to skew them for evil's gain.
More on the point, this article is particularly interesting because it deals in markets hitherto undealt with, and as such written off as potential markets. These areas are ridden with piracy and deregulated transactions. Beyond that, the people within these systems are accustomed to piracy and could care less about its Detrimental Effect on the Western Free Market Transactionary Model (DEWFMTM). Instead of gnashing their teeth as the collective dewfties have been doing, these intrepid entrepreneurs (Intrepreneurs?) have decided to use this DEWFMTM to their advantage. An excerpt of interest:
"We are aware of other companies that have created new game cartridges for the Indian market, only to have them pirated within 6 months. But because our main priority is distributing educational resources, we’ll actually be taking a loss on every cartridge that we sell to the wholesalers. So we would be thrilled to find out that our games have been pirated– it would just be lowering our distribution costs."
Impressive! And a cool idea no doubt. While it is a bit sad to think that they admit to operating at a loss, it's a pretty admirable attempt at doing something with piracy as opposed to just fighting this inevitable tide of newness like all those other jerks are. Granted, non-profit marketing definitely has different goals than for-profit corporations, but it's this kind of thinking that gets me excited about what can be done with things that seem to have already been set in stone.
Read the rest through the link and share your thoughts!
So either I've been dead or in a coma or something, because This thing hasn't been updated in 2 weeks. I am neither, BUT I am something which is preventing me from updating on a regular basis. Is it a super-secret relaunch and redesign? Is it a crazy blog import to a more accessible platform like Wordpress? Is it death or a coma?
Anyway, I ran across this little article on Games For Change, a blog and group I follow for news on how games are being used in novel and prosocial ways in the world at large. After all, the great US of A, for all our great gaming wiles, is not the be-all-end-all of the industry. In fact, not truer words could be spoken if I were to speak of how perpetuating the industry requires an investment in the world market. And not just in terms of entertainment, but in terms of betterment. I think this is where all man-made industries should do their best to end up in, regardless of whatever evil forces may attempt to skew them for evil's gain.
More on the point, this article is particularly interesting because it deals in markets hitherto undealt with, and as such written off as potential markets. These areas are ridden with piracy and deregulated transactions. Beyond that, the people within these systems are accustomed to piracy and could care less about its Detrimental Effect on the Western Free Market Transactionary Model (DEWFMTM). Instead of gnashing their teeth as the collective dewfties have been doing, these intrepid entrepreneurs (Intrepreneurs?) have decided to use this DEWFMTM to their advantage. An excerpt of interest:
"We are aware of other companies that have created new game cartridges for the Indian market, only to have them pirated within 6 months. But because our main priority is distributing educational resources, we’ll actually be taking a loss on every cartridge that we sell to the wholesalers. So we would be thrilled to find out that our games have been pirated– it would just be lowering our distribution costs."
Impressive! And a cool idea no doubt. While it is a bit sad to think that they admit to operating at a loss, it's a pretty admirable attempt at doing something with piracy as opposed to just fighting this inevitable tide of newness like all those other jerks are. Granted, non-profit marketing definitely has different goals than for-profit corporations, but it's this kind of thinking that gets me excited about what can be done with things that seem to have already been set in stone.
Read the rest through the link and share your thoughts!
