Based on all that and I'll read the article, I think RFBD is screwing
developers. Hey they charge enough for the membership, I can't
imagine how they can justify charging developers licensing fees to
use their technology. Ah, yes, I see the picture clearly now. If I'm
right, piss on RFBD.grin
Scott
On Apr 8, 2006, at 5:11 PM, Kafka's Daytime wrote:
Hi Jacob,
I can comment in a limited fashion...as (with any vendor) there are
certain professional and legal restrictions I must respect. Here is
some information that is available publicly:
1. If you read my original post carefully you'll notice I never
said that RFB&D books require "draconian licensing costs." This is
an inference you made. I can't comment further on what a developer
must do to gain access to RFBD's protection scheme. One of the
fundamental motivations for developing katieplayer is
affordability. We've absorbed significant cost to keep the price of
katieplayer low. Sometimes this has to happen at the start of a
software development effort. We're looking ahead to sustainable
approaches that are fair to us and to the end user. Content
providers make their own decisions regarding how they'll allow
access to their content and the cost of that access (whether the
end user eats the cost or the developer quietly absorbs it).
2. We insist in any relationship with any content provider on a $20
price ceiling for katieplayer (and provide support services to help
make that happen). In the case of one content provider, katieplayer
is supported directly by us and licensed publicly while the content
provider itself manages access to its own content and sets its own
additional price for access to its content (for which we also
require a ceiling). Affordable pricing, as we continue to grow the
software, is important to us.
3. The Bookshare setup encourages price competition because any
developer can develop a solution. In another case, the content
provider does not have that kind of open setup and can discourage
competition (particularly in pricing) forcing members who feel
they're locked in to choose high priced solutions (again I suggest
this as a possible scenario - you have to draw your own conclusions
about what is really happening). Watch closely over the next few
weeks and you may see this happen (actually this has happened
already...but you're going to have to find that out for yourself as
it's not appropriate for me to mention the name of the content
provider in this context). The price for Mac users to access a
particular brand of protected DAISY content will rise to about $130
for Mac users (excluding membership fees). I'm all for competition
between vendors. What I don't favor is artificial price hiking/
gouging and elimination of lower priced options which tend to
siphon sales away from the money-maker products. I don't favor the
elimination of choice.
Joe
On Apr 8, 2006, at 4:31 PM, Jacob Schmude wrote:
Hi
I'm going to jump into this conversation here. My opinion is that
a software daisy player should cost significantly less than the
hardware players. I'm curious, though, as to why this has come up--
if RFB&D books require such "draconian licensing costs" as I
believe you've put it, how was the current $18 cost possible? I
think I might've missed something. I have no problem paying for
software as long as it's priced reasonably--in fact, that's one
thing I like about Mac software, to be honest, most of it is
priced reasonably. As far as how much I'd be willing to pay, I'd
say keep it towards the lower or middle end of the double digits,
if possible, say from the current price to around $50. But that's
just my $0.02. Costs of development may not allow this, I don't
know how much some of the licensing costs are.
On Apr 8, 2006, at 12:52 PM, Kafka's Daytime wrote:
OK. What if RFBD removed katieplayer as an affordable option for
new purchasers and only offered higher priced Mac software
options: $120+. Would you stick with the old version of
katieplayer or go with the higher priced option? How much do you
think is too much to pay for a DAISY player?
Joe
On Apr 8, 2006, at 3:43 PM, Jane Jordan (gmail) wrote:
I wouldn't like that. I prefer having everything in one
application if possible.
Jane
On Apr 8, 2006, at 2:36 PM, Kafka's Daytime wrote:
Thanks Jane. Duly noted. What if you had to use the existing
version of katieplayer (or an upgraded version of similar) to
read RFBD books and the katieplayer Cocoa version to access
Bookshare books i.e. two separate applications?
Joe
On Apr 8, 2006, at 2:21 PM, Jane Jordan (gmail) wrote:
Hi, Joe.
I would hesitate to upgrade KatiePlayer if RFB&D books were no
longer supported. That was the only reason I bought it in the
first place. Of cours, now I know that it does much more, and
yes I would want to be able to listen to Daisy books from
Bokshare when I get that subscription renewed again. But I
would hate to see that particular part of KatiePlayer go away
in a new version. I like the fact that I can carry the
comptuer with me and listen to books from RFB&D whenever aqnd
wherever I like, so taking that way would be a bummer.
The rest of it I don't fully understand, so won't comment on it.
Jane
On Apr 8, 2006, at 12:56 PM, Kafka's Daytime wrote:
Hi Scott,
There was a bit of discussion about this on the list a few
weeks ago. We still have to complete testing of katieplayer
on Intel Macs before we make any changes required and issue a
public statement about katieplayer running on the Intel Macs.
We require a license (BASIC: $18) for each machine on which
katieplayer is installed. If it is a replacement machine (and
you won't be using katieplayer on two separate machines)
please send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] including
your new Hardware Fingerprint. Again, we expect to have
compatibility/update news in the reasonably near future. I'll
be sure to post the new information to the list. Sorry for
any delay/inconvenience. We'll get there. Also keep in mind
the Cocoa version of katieplayer is under development in
parallel.
Incidentally, I have a question for all on the list - or at
least those interested in DAISY. - regarding the forthcoming
Cocoa version of katieplayer. How would you feel if the new
Cocoa version of katieplayer were to support only Bookshare/
DAISY 3 books and DAISY 2 content which does not use "live"
Digital Rights Management (DRM) (unless the standard is not
obscure and is available to any developer without draconian
licensing fees/requirements)? RFBD books, for instance, would
- under this scenario - *not* be supported (though we'd
probably keep the legacy version of katieplayer available).
We're also considering moving away from the 'text + audio'
flavor of books and concentrating solely on 'text-only' (e.g.
those books provided by Bookshare). My own humble personal
view is that it seems less and less wise to distribute audio
with a talking book. There is the advantage of the human
reader - but the prompt availability and small file sizes of
the 'text-only' books (rendered 'live' by synthesized speech)
- seems to me to trump the advantages one has in the human-
read audio. Further, Bookshare's content collection is
getting bigger and broader and I think we're going to see it
continue to grow (recent addition of the O'Reilly technical
series was very nice and kind of a big deal). (RFBD offers a
fine service - I'm simply wondering about the best way for us
to proceed with katieplayer based on the needs/wants of our
audience). BTW, the katieplayer Cocoa version would come in
at the same $18 price point for the BASIC version i.e.
affordability is still a basic goal of the effort. Finally,
think of katieplayer in a broader, accessible media player
sense. No promises, but what would be in your feature wish
list? Again, would love to hear some thoughts from those who
are interested.
Thanks in advance,
Joe
On Apr 8, 2006, at 12:04 PM, Scott Howell wrote:
Joe, just got myself an Intel-based Mac. I used disk target
mode to move all my stuff to the new Mac. I didn't expect
everything to go perfectly and well Katieplayer isn't
working any longer. That would make sense do to the
different hardware fingerprint. I tried just running the app
and putting the key, but that didn't work. Matter of fact,
if I switch to another app while its in the registration
dialog and then switch back, I loose speech from Katieplayer
and can't navigate around. So, I wanted to pass that along,
but also how do I register Katieplayer to work on my new Mac.
tnx
Scott
