Editorial: The Short-sided Opinion on the likes of DLC and Digital Distribution

The last time I checked, it was illegal to digitally downloaded material that was considered by the RIAA as "pirated" software. Recently, I've taken notice that many companies, big and small, are allowing free distribution of certain copyrighted materials, and are using the global marketplace as a think tank for freely marketing original content by struggling artists who are not getting the proper pay and to me this is promoting the very illegal distribution that so many feel hurts the entertainment industry. Sadly, you have to deal with contemporary mediums for outsourcing materials like new albums, digital books, and even podcasts in the form of free samples, which hardly ever help the "little guy/gal" indie entertainer. This mostly relates to advertisers taking hard-working entertainers to the cleaners more heavily than ever before.
In recent months, there have been so many digitally distributed resources for people to manage to transfer via the world wide net, that it is almost impossible to imagine there being any income or capital of any sort for the modern-day musician. The art is thrown around by mega structures, that the artist is starving more now than ever before. I am not talking about the likes of Lady Gaga, although she is digitally downloaded enough that she losses hundereds of thousands of monies from income, but her work is so wildly popular with the demographic, it becomes pennies on the dollar.
Digital Distribution, whether through a source such as iTunes, or Bit Torrent for the illgeal distributer, pirating is now a threat more to the start-up artist, rather than the hit-making machines that are artistic elite. Granted, stealing from any artist who has actually put the thought and heart into their achievements should be wrong on levels from both sides of the spectrum, but I worry mostly for the likes of the classic independent, struggling artist who has no means to survive except for the fruit of their own labor. In this modern digital age, we see the likes of film, music, and even pirated software for videogames going against the developers who try the best to make the most out of what they can. Most monies are made within the first month of release for most games, films, and albums, after that, it's back to the drawing board, and the artist must struggle to rise to the top again.
Game developers use a tatic that sometimes pays off, and that is downloadable content. This is used for most gamers, who spend a lot on new-age technology to support their favorite passtime,to further enhance the gameplay of their favorite games. Developers do at times insult gamers who feel that DLC stands for vapor-ware, or uncompleted software, but in the struggling times, such as is with the music industry, developers and producers simply try to give the best possible experience with their software, in hopes of having gamers and sometimes new gamers to a said genre or series, to come back ravenously for more.
In the spectrum of gaming, the internet has at times allowed for positive conditions to the entertainment platform, considerably in the aspect of updates, and patches to fix all bugs in a game. For some, this is seen as a "lazy" form of developing, but meeting unrealistic deadlines for encoding thousands of lines of information can sometimes be haphazardous to those who try to get the best version of the game on the market. Most people do complain games should be finished before being shipped onto the shelves, but considering that the games patches and updates are usually free, complaints are respected, but not taking as serious as with the prices of DLC.
In the lines of the DLC, this is where games are usually made better with added bonus content that will run a gamer a full $75 to $100 (including purchase of the said game disc) when all content is officially uploaded onto stores like the PSN Store or Xbox Live. Content is not needed to experience the full-fledged game, but what once was included in most games on previous systems, now cost the player extended investments, and is rarely available in another format other than digitally downloaded versions. For some, although a rare minority, DLC is impossible do to internet scarcity, or the sort of connection only available in their area. Believe it or not, some places in the world, even the United States, are without the access to broadband or cable.
The gamers left out of the DLC movement, can at times find certain DLC available to buy on disc format at their local videogame store, but these options are scarce, if ever existant. The worst part is that developers who do deserve the extra services are bound to find, even at the lowest minority, pirating of the above software outlets, hence much money spent to distribution, but more importantly development, is taken out of the hands of those who create these billion dollar titles, and they recieve and even lower portion of the slave wage already the minimum.
Over the years, I have always been pro business to these, and other individuals who spend much of their lives developing the entertainmetns we now take for granted. The monies poured in are never the return, and if only for the love of the job do the individuals who create such entertainments continue to go along, and continue creating these amazing games, albums, and films. Although I do not talk much about the banking industry that is Hollywood here, I will say that even the highest paid director sometimes develops a movie worth his salary.
Thank you for reading the Malacast Editorial, I hope you've enjoyed this short editiorial on the basis of DLC and Digital Distribution, its pros and cons, and why examples of commisions like the RIAA are sometimes right about pirating digital content. I will give a further analysis on this topic, as it's always a blowhard one I deal with and am questioned about on the more-than-rarest of occasions. Thank you again for reading.

Fourthiest Post YAY! What Apple has NOT taken over.....yet

This blog seems to gone further than what it was suppose to be at first, and has not really stuck to the theme of book reviews/previews, Sorry for that, I do honestly appologize, but given the current situation, most of my very, very few readers have not probably shown up to view my posts. I have yet to decide which book I was going to review next, I did promise a Helen of Troy Review, but that is not going to happen anytime soon, although being a Margaret George fan, I don't honestly believe it can be any worst than Mary, Called Magdalene, a great novel, but far from her best work. Her next novel is set three years from now, and is most likely going to be on Elizabeth I, probaly to round out the whole monarchy of Henry VIII's bloodline. Anyhow, this post however is going to continue on Apple, and their goat of surpassing Microsoft....which will never happen in my lifetime, children's lifetime, etc. Steve Jobs though, even before mass production has taken the Cellular Phone world by crusade, as he plans to annhilate the competiting smart phones. I did a very short, very specific post for my thirty-ninth post.....and it was shabby. Now , the thing that is of real intrest is what will Apple try to take over next?
That's an easy answer, if Apple wanted to dominate the market of electronics, they would have to reinvent the one market none of them have yet to touch...the bathroom. What? Am I making a farce on Apple's behalf? Well, perhaps not the most popular in America yet, although it really would make for an intersting showpiece.... "Smart" Toliets are perhaps the most unique creations out of Japan, and some have more powerful core technology than my now defuct iBook G4. I would love to see an electornic toilet with an ethernet connection, and somethign that could store a ton of music, audiobooks, etc. for those holiday seasons. Now seriously, I think that in a mature, honest opinion, the Apple toilet could be something amazing....it could revolutionize the way we do our duty, and turn the John Crapper, into the "Johnny Appleseed" Crapper. I would market this new creation "iFlush.....Apple reinvents the toilet" Sure i know I am poking fun a little, but isn't a sense of humor what this company was all about? Maybe make it a promo at the next MacWorld. Although this product would most likely be marketed to sme "special intrest" people looking a high priced, high tech gag for their friends....I would honestly say that one of these "smart" toilets is not so far-fetched and Idea....I mean they already exists! And the great thing about an "iFlush" would be that the only viruses it gets is from someone with an upset stomach, no one's hacking that bowl! Here's an idea of how it could look: Image from http://www.catalog.kohler.com/onlinecatalog/300x350/pn005870.jpg Editited with Adobe Photoshop. Apple Icon courtesy of http://www.svmarketeer.com/images/TinyApple.jpg

Okay, so it's not the best idea, but at least it is a start....I mean what Mac user would not want this? I certainly would! Okay, another field that Steve Jobs has yet to pursue is the videogame industry. This is due to the fact that there is no money for Apple to make in that Industry, which Ninetendo and Sony dominate in the market today. Plus, you would not want to compete with your partners at Nintendo, it would probably make bad blood with Disney as well. Apple would make the best system on the planet for gamers, and it is probably best for their intrests not to do so, since Microsoft lost money on the Xbox 360, but don't count Apple out yet, it is possible for them to get into the market, although I highly doubt they will want to in the future generations to come...perhaps ten years in the future? Maybe ten years from then? I think that it is impossible for them to really get into the gaming market. Personally, I think that a videogame system for them would be a plus, make it like the failed Phantom, where you download the video games rather than buy them in the stores...just make it so you can back them up by adding a DVD-ROM burner....well, probably Blu-Ray by then, or something else, but it would be awesome to see something along the lines of a console by Apple. This is what the Phantom looked like prior to being cancled in 2005: Image from http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40154000/jpg/_40154601_phantonm_c203.jpg. Something like this could really be a good idea from Apple, and I think that they WOULD bring the gaming industry up to par with the rest of the entertainment world. I mean, they have now revolutionized the way people buy music, movies, even games that can be played on the iPod! This also made people realize just how good Apple computers are, and now over fifty percent of what has been sold in the Apple Stores are going to FIRST TIME MAC USERS.....don't believe me? check out the Keynotes Quicktime from MacWorld in San Francisco video at www.apple.com/qicktime/mac.html.
To conclude this second part of the Apple phenomenon posts, I mainly want to say that Apple has a smart plan to take the cell phone industry over, and I have no doubts that they are truly years ahead of the competition, but due to lack of customers, and that Microsoft is the bigger Industry, they will not rule the whole market anytime soon, and I hope they do branch out and take over other industries of intrest via home entertainment