Ego Libre

I feel like I need to clarify my thoughts on software piracy a bit more from the previous post. I also see piracy as a business model used for penetration into new markets. I can see it also as a lock-in for future customers, but frankly this works only for some products that are close to monopolistic categories - like anything from Adobe or AutoCad etc.

I can see it as a lock in also for necessary programs such as MS Office. But I don’t see it working for smaller developers such as company that I work for. Yes, not many people in Czech Republic can afford office because the price is more than a monthly average salary. So without pirates software people wouldn’t be able to use these utilities. But is it really an advantage for anyone else than Microsoft? What would happen if there would be no piracy? What would happen if Microsoft would be so good in preventing it or people so morally perfect that they wouldn’t do it? Would people stop using computers for word processing? Of course not!

There will be alternatives. Smaller developers would fill in the gap because there would be a demand for simple word processor or office suits. Maybe they would be released as a freeware, maybe they would be paid but cheap enough so people could afford to buy them. And you know what would happen next? Either MS will have to lower price to make their software competitive or they would lose this market forever.

What would Microsoft do? And who would benefit from it? Same thing would have to happen with Photoshop and with all the other ridiculously overpriced applications. So once again, yes this strategy works. We are young, stupid and poor. We use keygens, crack software and get locked in. Then we start doing something serious. Maybe work in a company or as entrepreneurs. What is the first thing we got to do? Buy legal software. And Microsoft knows, Adobe knows it and they are quietly laughing. Piracy works in advantage of these big companies! That is the reality.

Now take a small developer creating a specific utility doing a single thing, but doing it right. People don’t buy their software instead they steal it. The company is doing a great job, but losing money. What will happen? Either they go bust and in few years when you are ready to buy they are not there anymore. Or they manage to survive. But since these companies are facing much tougher competition what will happen when in few years you decide to buy a utility that does this what you need? Are you going to buy this one you have been using for years? Maybe/ Maybe not. There is countless ftp programs, there are dozens of raw developers and there is one Photoshop. Do you see what I mean? My company might not be here in few years because we might be unable to turn profit on software. Today I found out that the german verson of our software including keygen has been download from a single torrent tracker almost as many times as is our legal user base in germany. That means that we are able to reach only 50% of this market and receive money from these user. What do you think of that? If we were Microsoft we can afford to wait a few years, but can we afford to wait as a small company?

The point I am trying to make is that piracy is bad for everyone except the big players. People should realize this. The users should realize this. By using pirated software from the big developers you are actually making yourself poorer in the future. By doing this you don’t pay 50$ now, but 100$ in future because there will be less and less competition as the long tail disappears. So please think of your future and change your attitude. Start supporting smaller developers and pirate the big ones if you want. It is a first step in the right direction.

I know that Apple might not be the best example as their attitude is changing lately too, but I just love the fact that there are no serial keys on Mac OS X. I know that your argument is that Apple makes money of hardware so they can afford to lose money to piracy on software. But you know what? That’s how I want to see it work. I love the freeware community. I love the sense of trust and I tend to reward it.

In Japanese sometimes there are no tabs. You order, you get it and when you are about to pay you tell the bartender how much did you have to eat and drink. Do people cheat? Maybe. Do I? No. That’s where I see future. In trust, in new business models and in no piracy. You know what, these bars are still around. If it wouldn’t work, they would go bust or change the system, right? I see freeware community in the same way and I really hope we can collectively work on pushing the mainstream into that direction. In future I see a bipolar world of software. There will be “the big ones” with their old business concept because it works for them. Microsoft, Adobe, Corel…
Then there will be the small and free ones. All the Cyberducks and Adiums and Quicksilvers of the world. And then there will be smart ones utilizing a new model somewhere between: Google, Apple…maybe YOU.

Once again I am stressed and annoyed about it. A new semester has started, my schedule is quite busy, my job makes things even harder and I am terribly behind on my thesis. Any way I look at it, I am screwed once again. But I am almost getting used to it. Lack of sleep, mind racing like a speeding bullet, shaking hands and thoughts that I need a drink to forget everything for a moment. It sounds pretty much like a 21st century Molotov Cocktail.

And I know you are probable like that too. I know way too many people who are stressed about their lives and careers or even worse, they do not know about it. “Ignorance is a bliss” does not work here. People who ignore their stress levels, people who think that having 80 unread emails in their inbox does not affect their life are people who are sadly mistaken.

Everything has a direct effect on your life and happiness. Some people say my father is a workaholic. Some people even admire it because they think it is the reason for his success. I say it’s BS. Being workaholic is being sad. Not realizing it is being blind and I surely do not want to end up in a same way, so I keep looking for a cure.

Some people find drugs, some people dive into religion and philosophy, some people get hooked on self-help books, which is basically combination of both approaches. I belong in the last category. That is also the reason why I added Perfect Productivity as one of the groups on this blog. And for the same reason I will remove it today.

I am bad at it. In fact I am so bad at it, that I am afraid that sooner or later I will walk in footsteps of my father. But I have to fight it somehow. Since this is the last (also pretty much first post in this category, I will at least tell you what, I believe, will guide me to an art of stress-free productivity.

Some of you maybe even recognize the last words as a pitch. Yes, I am a fellow GTDer. This things is becoming a cult on the internet. I think that once the geek community picked it up, it was pretty much destined to become the mantra of the internet age productivity. Forget nirvana, forget heaven, just follow David Allan’s Bible called (surprise, surprise) Getting Things Done.

If you have never heard about the book, get it now. If you did and you have not read it, get it now and if you did both and still can’t get the things done, you are a moron (like me) and read it again Seriously, I believe this is the single most important book for surviving the crazy workload that computer technology is laying down on us. Did your parents have to answer to 50-100 messages a day while doing some other sensible work? Were they expected to answer within minutes to every request made? Exactly, no. And yet they are the ones now sending you email to the other side of the world and getting annoyed that you do not answer them the same day. I mean c’mon! No generation before us had to deal with so much intense stress as we do. (Unless you count the cave man of course

Yet schools do not provide us with any framework. All that IT was supposed to teach us was how to use Word and Excel! If that is the best modern education system can equip us with, I say we are headed for serious trouble. The generation Y or Z or whatever will suffer the biggest nervous breakdown in history. And why? Because when 300 million people will send and receive 200 emails a day and be expected to answer within 30 seconds…well the math just don’t add up and somebody is going to suffer. And trust me, I want to be the one standing aside watching this mayhem…

So now that I have calmed down my own initial frustration I can go back and re-read GTD. I can also point you to great sites that deal with productivity, namely 43Folders and Lifehacker. I wish you a good luck in your hunt to free your mind. And if you feel like you don’t need to, if you feel like you work better under pressure anyway, then I will quietly smile and let you be. I will come to visit you on Sundays in your favorite sanitarium few years from now

Is your the software on your computer legal? Probably not all of it, right? What about your music, movies, what about the pictures you use on your website? We are surrounded by copyright breaching. We live in it, we grew up in it, we created it.

And it’s all wrong. The whole system is wrong. I don’t like the way copyright is set up, I don’t like the way patents are issued, I don’t like the ridiculous prices the companies are charging. It’s all wrong and hopefully it’s a dying ecosystem. EMI shows the way and I believe soon other will follow.

But today, today I have experienced it from the other side. I have encountered a user that was using a pirated version of the application we are producing. I got mad. I felt that this person must be the lowliest scum on planet Earth until I realized I used to be like him too. And it’s not even a long time ago.

Yes, used to be. When I started to work for my current employer, I have seen software development from the other side. I have seen the amount of work and effort that is put into it and I have (over period of about a year) completely legalized my computer.
All my software is legally purchased, all my music comes form cds I own or from iTunes (and I have serious collection too), I have been quite careful what copyright is used on what images when I use any on the web. And you know what? It feels great. It feels good that every update does not break my keygen or crack. It feels good that I can send bug reports without being scared that they are going to find out that I am running pirated software (unlike the genius costumer today). I have donated to every freeware that I use and I feel like I am finally giving back to the community from which I have been stealing for so long.
This is not a moral appeal to you. Do whatever you want to do. I chose to believe that sooner or later we will all legalize (it), but today I finally felt how all these poor developers must feel. I will not urge you to buy all the software you have, but please consider starting with some small steps. Maybe use you PayPal to donate to these fabulous developers who do all the work for free. Or buy that small app for 10$ that you are so fond of. Start small, but please start some time soon, the future depends on it.

We need to change the way how software is developed and sold. And you will not do so by simply not participating in this game. By putting your money behind what you believe in you will help solve show the market where you want the future to be.