(October 11, 2009 at 12:33 pm)Falhalterra Wrote: I understand pirating certain things because they are overpriced; it's almost a form of rebellion to get a company to listen.
Companies only "hear" through dollars spent. Each dollar counts as a vote for the product it was spent on so the non-action of piracy will NOT be "felt" by any company but there will be effects from the action. When sales volumes are high, prices drop, when they are low prices rise. Price points are effected by volume because, with increased sales come economies of scale which allow the operating costs of the business and sunk costs, such as research and development (studio time in the music business is roughly the same), to be spread over a larger number of units so unit cost goes down.
The only way a company can comprehend piracy is through a budgeting model that incorporates the opportunity cost per unit and somehow finds a method to track how many of their units are being pirated. For a business that adopts this budgeting model the net effect of piracy is an INCREASE in unit cost and therefore sales price to account for the additional cost from piracy.
Bottom line, the only way to be "heard" economically is through the act of buying. I adhere to this principle because it is self serving and increases the chance that a certain industry will produce products that conform to my needs.
If you can't afford it, you have two choices:
1. find something you are already purchasing that you want less than the product you can't afford and alter your purchasing habits so you can save up
2. obtain a better source of money so you can afford more stuff
Rhizo
