sanitize and canonize

Jan. 25, 2012 at 5:01pm with 34 notes

Reblogged from tomewing

Blue Lines Revisited: So, What ARE People Buying Instead Of Music?

More generally what thinking about this points up is something I don’t think I’ve ever seen acknowledged in the piracy debate. That lost money has gone somewhere.

I’m more familiar with the time version of this: we’re watching less TV/reading less books/playing outside less/cooking less/watching fewer movies, and sensational articles take each one in isolation as the death of that particular activity (and, often, the death of the idealized America of which home cooking and movie theaters were the linchpin). But there’s just more to do nowadays!

Relatedly, I saw this David Brothers post yesterday about how we should stop blaming piracy for the death of comics:

But for my money, the thing that killed comic books is “everything else.” We’re living in an all-new status quo, and I keep seeing people, especially comics people, acting like piracy is the sole cause of all their ills. When no, that isn’t true, and a half glance at the world will tell you so.

I don’t even have to leave my house to be flooded with things to do. I can have food delivered, songs and movies I buy (or download, whatever) appear on my hard drive or PlayStation like magic, video games can be bought and played without ever touching a physical disc… we’re living in the future, and that’s without even going outside. Outside, I can go to the movies, check out stand-up open mics, hang out with friends, drink Starbucks, eat donuts, play board games, go to bars…

There is so much to do, and when you tell me my choice is between (in this instance) a comic that averages out to being just okay and costs three to four dollars to read for five to ten minutes and doing anything else, I’m going to choose anything else, nine times out of ten, with exceptions made for creators I enjoy or books that might have a good hook that I’m curious about.

You can’t blame any one thing; it’s just moving pieces around.