Hi!
I am glad there is an attempt to start selling diagrams digitally, but
it only stands to prove why piracy exists. Five dollars for a single
very simple penguin? Eight dollars for a single butterfly? Are you out
of your mind? So when you publish your book of thirty models all being
worth that you will charge us $150??? I would maybe try to pay that for
a Lang book of his finest thirty models. You are out of touch and greedy.
Point 1)
You have cherry-picked the two of the three most expensive diagrams. And
there aren't many diagramsin the database (yet).
This is hardly a representative choice of the diagram prices.
Most of them are in the range between 1$ and 2,5$. Which is about the
price for a cup of cheap coffee. 5§-8§ are about the price of a cheap meal.
But: Making coffee or cooking a cheap meal are things nearly everyone can
do (and a pity if not). Designing and diagramming Origami artwork isn't.
That's a hard-earned ability of a small minority. Which I gladly will pay
for.
Also, in the beginning of iTunes a song did cost 0.99$, and it was widely
discussed if that wouldn't be to much as this price was unproportionally
high in regards to a full album. Last time I checked iTunes was doing very
well indeed.
Point 2)
If I got it correctly, the diagrams you mentioned are from an artist from
the EU - and the dollar is still weaker than the euro.
Therefore, the artist in question gets a slightly smaller sum.
(And, as a citizen of the EU I think 5-8$ dollar for a work of art is
pretty cheap. Which goes too for people which don't want to pay more. But
maybe I'm culturally biased.)
Point 3)
I really love owning and buying books, and I've a fair share of them,
including Origami books. But available shelf space is always on a low.
Also, buying a whole book at 20$ with 30 models in it just for a single
model I want to fold is more expensive than buying exactly that model for
5$.
So, the higher price for a single diagram comes with the benefits that the
diagrams are available for me worldwide (ever carried "Origami design
secrets" or "Origami menagerie" around?) and that I get specifically the
content I want, where and whenever I want.
Also, especially for people with less money it is harder to make one big
purchase at one time than 4 smaller ones over a longer time.
Oh, also, artists feeling appreciated are happy artists, and produce more
work.
And in turn they make me happy by making more diagrams.
Greetings!
Ph.
