How to stop magic piracy?
- Thread starter Josh Burch
- Start date
Context is important here. The Ammar lecture is a great deal because this stuff normally does not come cheap. You walk away feeling like you got a great deal for golden material.
The Wire? Not so much. You're not paying 5 bucks for a killer move and getting a great deal in the process. You're paying for an untested pile of ape wank and even then you may have the feeling that you were over-charged for what you got.
It might seem a little counterintuitive, but purchasing decisions are very much all about context.
I personally think that a lot of people, current younger Magic fans need to learn how to be picky when it comes to buying DVD's, downloads or books. Ironically, that didn't happen for me till I hit 29 and started focusing more on paying for lessons online and getting my information from there. And even then I still sometimes fall into shiny new toy syndrome (rarely). Ex: David Williamson has a new DVD set out that I really want, but can't get because I'm trying to budget myself for much more important things.
I'm not disagreeing. I'm just arguing that context has a way of skewing decisions and altering the perception of value. Price is a constant, but value is relative.
That and from what I've seen of The Wire is that a good majority of the things on there are all color changes. Which might explain why none of this stuff is published in any magazines. Also, a good lot of them seem like they were made only for a camera man/angle. Which to me seems to be a complete waste of energy.
If anybody who publishes stuff on the wire is reading this. I want you to put an actual video of you performing one of those things for actual people/groups. Doesn't matter if they are all your friends, you can go the LL route. Also, I want you to publish an actual routine that uses the "move". Not "Look at this cool 4 ace appearing trick". I mean it actually has to make some sense. Hell, just put up a cards to pocket routine. If your routine is better structured than David Williamsons then you get a No-Prize.
Actually, the fact that so much of it color change type material, which belongs in a magazine vs. sold as separate "effects" is the issue when it comes to sources like The Wire. . . a large amount of what we find in such sources would have been contributed as part of an article in a magazine but not so in today's "give me money" culture.
Maybe this stuff gets under my skin because I'm willing to give away information and technique that's worth thousands and I choose to share it because, to my mind, it is so elementary and not, in my mind, earth shattering? Then again, I think it's just the fact that I'm not out to see my name in print or possibly get pats on the back for something I've "developed" (which is seriously the wrong word in the majority of these cases, the majority of the effects being far from "developed").
I've got a box of old Linking Ring magazines sitting here that are filled with some great material, much of it far more proven and practical than the stuff featured as "low ball" sales leaders a.k.a. Wire products and yet, when I offered the collection (spans from the late 80s to roughly the mid 90s) for as little as $15.00 + shipping NO ONE has once made a bid on it. . . they would rather pay $15.00 for one idea it would seem, than to get dozens for the same money and just a bit of time perusing some text copy. . . go figure. . . .
Maybe this stuff gets under my skin because I'm willing to give away information and technique that's worth thousands and I choose to share it because, to my mind, it is so elementary and not, in my mind, earth shattering? Then again, I think it's just the fact that I'm not out to see my name in print or possibly get pats on the back for something I've "developed" (which is seriously the wrong word in the majority of these cases, the majority of the effects being far from "developed").
I've got a box of old Linking Ring magazines sitting here that are filled with some great material, much of it far more proven and practical than the stuff featured as "low ball" sales leaders a.k.a. Wire products and yet, when I offered the collection (spans from the late 80s to roughly the mid 90s) for as little as $15.00 + shipping NO ONE has once made a bid on it. . . they would rather pay $15.00 for one idea it would seem, than to get dozens for the same money and just a bit of time perusing some text copy. . . go figure. . . .
Shipping on those Craig would cost a fortune I am guessing. I hand loaded 5 boxes of Genii, Apocalypse, and some other periodicals from our last magic auction that I purchased and the boxes were definitely about 40 pounds each if not more. What I have been doing as I work through them is, I rip out the good information and effect pages and put them in an accordion style folder based on topics. I hope to eventually hand all of that information over to my son when he is old enough to begin performing.