Forced Scarcity?
Like I keep saying throughout my journal: Media in the future will be something that does not allow the user to actually use media as he sees fit. DRM, forced scarcity, and loss of access will permeate all media leaving the user without entertainment and without money.
Today I noticed that Blokus was for sale on the PlayStation Network. Excited, excitedly, I checked Amazon.com because I can buy downloadable games without tax through that site. There, I saw something really strange: The digital download was "currently unavailable." Whaaa? Isn't digital media -- virtual items that can be copied infinitely -- supposed to be available once it appears for sale?
What is the point of having a digital game that is "sold out?" Is that even possible? How is that possible? Can't this game producer just randomly generate the download code for each individual buyer? I am so confused.
Is this the first sign of what I have been talking about? It probably is.
On a related note, I said this about the media frontier on a Escapistmagazine.com:
One of the components of the future of media is "media scarcity." The only way media companies (music, video game, Hollywood) can force software to be scarce (and therefore force the consumer to repeatedly buy the same media) is by A)Having laws passed that make it illegal for people to own media as long as they don't infringe upon copyright; This sounds very much like DRM does it not?: B)Scarcity can be forced by "magic words" in the form of End User License Agreements (EULAs); Media companies can completely revoke legitimately acquired software on a whim simply by rewriting a EULA and then retroactively implementing it, therefore making consumers lose hundreds of dollars of legally bought software.
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Today I noticed that Blokus was for sale on the PlayStation Network. Excited, excitedly, I checked Amazon.com because I can buy downloadable games without tax through that site. There, I saw something really strange: The digital download was "currently unavailable." Whaaa? Isn't digital media -- virtual items that can be copied infinitely -- supposed to be available once it appears for sale?
What is the point of having a digital game that is "sold out?" Is that even possible? How is that possible? Can't this game producer just randomly generate the download code for each individual buyer? I am so confused.
Is this the first sign of what I have been talking about? It probably is.
On a related note, I said this about the media frontier on a Escapistmagazine.com:
One of the components of the future of media is "media scarcity." The only way media companies (music, video game, Hollywood) can force software to be scarce (and therefore force the consumer to repeatedly buy the same media) is by A)Having laws passed that make it illegal for people to own media as long as they don't infringe upon copyright; This sounds very much like DRM does it not?: B)Scarcity can be forced by "magic words" in the form of End User License Agreements (EULAs); Media companies can completely revoke legitimately acquired software on a whim simply by rewriting a EULA and then retroactively implementing it, therefore making consumers lose hundreds of dollars of legally bought software.
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