Apple
DRM Deconstructed
Awhile back I published a link to an interview with Phil Schiller
where he talks about the DRM scheme behind the Apple Music Store.
He's vague about the details.
Buzz Anderson did some deconstructing of the DRM bits in the Apple
music files and tells the results in his SciFi HiFi blog.
The reason I bring DRM up is that currently there is no way to recoup
the cost of making and posting wilderness panoramas on my website. In
fact there's also no funds available to capture the hundreds of
places that people are constantly entering into my site's search
function.
Some people have suggested I create a multimedia DVD and sell it. As
far as I can tell, it would take me six to nine months of solid work
to do that since I have a massive amount of content (3000+ panoramas,
hundreds of maps), and putting together a good CD/DVD is not easy.
I don't own Macromedia Director or the other common tools, so there
goes a few thousand right off the top. How much additional time it
would take to set up a distribution network and get it stocked in
places where people consume such goods is an open question, but lets
say three months. The opportunity cost of a year of one's time is not
insignificant. My information is that the retailer gets the lion's
share of the item price. That all means that a VirtualParks CDROM
would have to sell phenomenal quantities to just break even. So that
suggestion, although well meaning, is not viable.
I think it would be far better to use a micropayment system to
apportion the cost across all the Internet viewers who come by. After
all, people are willing to pay a quarter to buy a paper. Wouldn't
many people be willing to pay a negligible small amount to look at
some amazing panoramas? If each viewer to VirtualParks parted with a
dime, it would cover my out-of-pocket expenses, making VirtualParks a
more sustainable proposition.
So if Apple developed a general purpose DRM that could work for any
QuickTime content, I'd certainly be interested in thinking about
using it for my content.
The other part of the puzzle is that micropayment
systems are not
thriving yet.
This DaveNet raises interesting points about who will pay for
software: http://davenet.userland.com/2003/05/24/whoWillPayForSoftware
The conclusion is interesting:
"Ultimately we'll have to find an answer to this question, or find
that it has no answer. Who will pay for software and how will they
pay? Today software and music, software and writing, software and all
kinds of creativity, are indistinguishable. There is no clear line
dilineating where one ends and the other starts. Nor is there a line
between people. To be creative in either technology or the arts
requires an understanding of both."
The value of software somehow seems clearer than for nature
panoramas, and even then Dave says people don't want to pay for it.
So what is a person to do?
6:33:35 AM 
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