Any word on LongBox, Heidi?

You have answered a question about why piracy is bad, I asked a question about why DRM would make any difference to anyone but legit consumers who will have the usual problems with it.

The pirates are stealing and will carrying on steal, I’m a legit consumer who wants to buy a product but will not buy it with DRM. The idea that makes them DRM will make a difference to the bottom line seems nonsense to me because there is nothing stopping that at present!

Everything that is released is *already* pirated and freely available generally within three hours of it being released so how is that going to make any difference?

If there are people who are so committed to the “All information should be free” principle, or who benefit in some way from piracy that they scan and upload “everything,” then they should be prosecuted. Tracking them down wouldn’t be difficult.

I don’t think much of the idea that someone should be able to make a living off of one or two monthly comic book series, but if someone tries to do that, then every sale counts. If he were to make issues free in an attempt to reach readers, then he’d hurt himself financially, and risk the loss of readers when he began charging.

People who pirate material published by small presses are thieves, and they’re deluding themselves if they think they’re something else.

SRS

… and price it cheaply!!! In my opinion, the price point is really going to be the key to success for Longbox. I am really hoping for a 99 cent price per issue. Through browsing selections on Comixology (on my iTouch), and the Playstation store (on my PSP) it appears that Marvel (and some of the others) are trying to go for a $1.99 price point. I have yet to buy a $1.99 digital comic. I have “bought” several free samplers, and some 99 cent comics (e.g. Mike Allred’s Madman the Oddity Odyssey #1-3 for $1.98 total on Comixology — 1st issue free, and #2 and #3 at 99cents each).

Also, quality of both user interface and quality of content are important. From the interview, it appears the interface is going to be top notch; however, I have concerns that the content available will be filled with “shovelware comics” from the untalented who are drawn by a low hurdle that lacks quality control of content.

Nice interview… I look forward to the follow-up in weeks to come, and wish Longbox success!

Everything that is released is *already* pirated and freely available generally within three hours of it being released so how is that going to make any difference?

Well is Mr Hoseley in the business of just being viable? From everything I read from him and about him I thought Longbox was planned to be THE major distribution channel for digital comics. Obviously that is not going to happen now.

“If the impulse buyers Hoseley wants to reach”

Once more he is not going to get casual impulse buyers if they have to go through all the trouble of installing the Longbox software first. I don’t think for example Comixology on iPhone is getting a lot of casual readers (they download the stand-alone ‘Archie’ or ‘Star Trek’ apps instead).
What Longbox seems to be targeting at this point is hardcore indie comic readers, people who buy Image titles for example, know their way around a computer and prefer digital comics to loaded shelves. And that is WAY less than 5% of the print market, in my opinion anyway. If he can get 1% of the market, he will be very lucky, especially knowing that he can’t be a big player on iPhone, Android, or iPad – only PC and maybe Mac are still open.
As for subscriptions they only work for DC/Marvel title really, so I don’t know why so many people are talking so much about subscriptions. It’s a moot point right now.

I’ll come back in 2015 (which is about the time it tooks the music industry to get it) when the comics industry gets it.

There are too many differences between the music marketplace and the comics marketplace for their approaches to digitization to be comparable. Piracy that’s a mere blip in the music marketplace could drive a small comics publisher out of business.

SRS