[sdiy] From Bernie of Electronotes

Mon Jun 26 01:20:08 CEST 2017

PS I don't think anyone is minimizing the overall cost.  That's why Bernie
makes it available in pieces.  But to say it ought to cost less than a
typical college textbook seems to minimize the value it has.

Some means of addressing those competing concerns also needs to go into any
hypothetical attempt at crowd funding a solution as well.

On Jun 25, 2017 7:14 PM, "Pete Hartman" <pete.hartman at gmail.com> wrote:

> My understanding from talking to Bernie about this in the past is that the
> paper is largely a sunk cost.  He's already bought a lot of it.
>
> To make an electronic version viable, we would have to meet several needs:
>
> Not leaving Bernie in the hole for the paper he has on hand.
>
> Cover the cost of doing the digitizing right.  Included in that cost is a
> person or people with the time to do the job, which Bernie does not have or
> does not care to expend personally--as is his right.
>
> Make arrangements for digital commerce that fairly compensate Bernie
> without requiring a lot of time to manage himself.
>
> Some reasonable effort to thwart the inevitable piracy.  With the paper
> edition this is a very low issue, but obviously digital media are a whole
> new ballgame.
>
>
>
> If these could be solved to Bernie' s satisfaction, I'd bet a crowd
> funding solution could work.  But simply asserting that one or the other of
> these concerns (or any that I've missed, for that matter) isn't really
> important doesn't move the conversation forward in any meaningful way.
>
> We're very rapidly reaching the point of repeating ourselves instead of
> having a conversation.  Hopefully we can avoid that rat hole.....
>
> Pete
>
> On Jun 25, 2017 6:46 PM, <sleepy_dog at gmx.de> wrote:
>
>>
>> >> The way to encourage the brightest among us to share their knowledge
>> is not to see how low we can devalue what they do.  No thank you, I am not
>> interested in a race to the bottom. <<
>>
>> The paper is only the carrier material. I don't see the virtue of burning
>> money on an inefficient form of delivery.
>> Not to mention the substantial added cost of shipping half a boatload of
>> paper from the US to overseas.
>>
>> And he already mentioned he isn't making a lot off of it.
>> If you could increase the number of sales, which lower prices tend to do,
>> and, after some initial fixed effort, could reduce the ongoing effort, as
>> was suggested, it might actually increase the profit.
>>
>> Perhaps some people with expertise in the newest scanning tech can give
>> some insights, to remove some of the roadblocks.
>>
>> Perhaps if enough people are interested from the get go, no risk of up
>> front investment for such a project would be necessary.
>> I.e., open a *Kickstarter* project, and spread the news throughout any
>> damn site that has (wannabe) synth DIYers on it, and let's see whether
>> enough backers can be found to meet the goal. If so, he gets the money, no
>> ifs no buts. If not, the project gets the failed status, and not much harm
>> was done.
>>
>> Or how about this here:
>> https://leanpub.com/
>>
>> People can buy not-yet-finished e-books, the books status (and content)
>> is updated by the author, and those who already purchased, have access to
>> it.
>> I.e. you can read what's already there when it's there, nobody has to
>> wait until it's *all* done, which might increase the willingness of some to
>> pay up front. You don't have to wait so long until you get *something*.
>>
>>
>> Maybe some people forgot that, but 300..400 bucks is a lot for some,
>> especially young people.
>> And those are a target audience, too,  if you don't want this niche hobby
>> to die out ;-)
>>
>> Now perhaps I am exaggerating due to ignorance, I'm not that long into
>> SDIY, but my impression is that there are not that many (still in print)
>> good books out there explaining analog synth circuits. So making material
>> that makes that more accessible would be most excellent, dudes.
>>
>>
>> Steve
>>
>>
>> Am 25.06.2017 um 22:39 schrieb Tom Farrand:
>>
>> Michael,
>>
>> Shakespeare is dead and any copyright of his work died a very long time
>> ago.
>>
>> Beethoven is also at end-stage death but his stuff costs a little more
>> because the copyright is still very much alive on the PERFORMANCE of his
>> works.  That is what the $28 is for ... the performance of Beethoven's
>> works.  Beethoven and his descendants get nada.  Same for Shakespeare ...
>> nada.
>>
>> I fail to see any similarity between two dead guys and what copies of
>> their stuff sells for, to that of Bernie, who is very much alive and still
>> producing stuff.
>>
>> Electronotes is a "vintage" history book that is still being written by
>> the original author.  I am more than just a little grateful for his
>> contributions to my education.
>>
>> As to cost, I think that most any single order I've placed to SynthCube
>> or Mouser or Digi-Key for parts, would exceed the full cost of the paper
>> version of Electronotes on which many of us learned from Bernie what it's
>> all about.  A deep understanding of this subject matter that has made many
>> of us fairly skilled in the art, is for sale for less than $400.  I think
>> that is a bargain.  Hells, bells, an opening night opera ticket can cost up
>> to a grand or more.  And when it's over ... it's over.
>>
>> The way to encourage the brightest among us to share their knowledge is
>> not to see how low we can devalue what they do.  No thank you, I am not
>> interested in a race to the bottom.
>>
>> Tom Farrand
>>
>> On Sun, Jun 25, 2017 at 1:19 PM, MOB <mob at mindspring.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Tom,
>>>
>>> I completely agree that Bernie should be free to do whatever he wishes
>>> with his intellectual property.
>>>
>>> I did think, and I do take issue with your last argument.  In less than
>>> a minute, I found a Kindle edition of the complete works of Shakespeare for
>>> 99 cents and CD's of the complete symphonies of Beethoven for $28.
>>>
>>> There's a trade-off satisfaction from income from fewer high-paying
>>> users and from having your work more widely known and used.  We all know
>>> that in a consumer-based world, the single-item price is *not* the index of
>>> value.  An individual has a right to choose either, but it's nice to know
>>> that both options are available.
>>>
>>> Best regards,
>>>
>>> Michael
>>>
>>> On 6/25/2017 1:37 PM, Tom Farrand wrote:
>>>
>>>> Can I reduce your life's work into a $50 PDF?  Is that what a lifetime
>>>> of work is worth nowadays?  People: think.
>>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
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