Thursday, June 23, 2011

The Death of the Golden Goose


A man had a goose that laid a golden egg every day. He killed it because he wanted to have all the eggs at once. He was shocked to discover that there were no eggs inside the goose and spent the rest of his life wallowing in self pity. What if I tell you this is not a children’s fable? How would you characterize the personality of such a person?  THINK HARD FOR 10 SECONDS. 
©SiliconAngle.com
Such a person has to be greedy, idiotic, foolish, and cannot perceive the consequences of his actions. He focuses only the immediate pleasures that he can gain out of a situation.
The next time you buy a pirated game because you love gaming or buy a pirate book because you feel incomplete without a book on you bedside, remember that person and see the mirror. You will see someone who is gradually squeezing to death a golden goose that probably gives him the biggest pleasure of his life. Why do I say this? Spend 5 minutes reading this article and you will know what I mean.

Let me also try and give you an alternate explanation. Imagine you are a software engineer working in a multi-national company. You have a nice house, a car, loving parents, and a beautiful wife. You and your team are working a on a software solution for a Fortune 100 client and its going to be a big success. On the project delivery date, you realize that the client is not paying you for your work because someone came in, copied all your work on a DVD, and sold it to the client for .0001% of its actual cost. Not only that, you realize that every time you are about to complete a project, you will face the same result. Your company has no chance but to shut shop and suddenly life has lost its beauty. You are now someone with a mounting debt of EMI’s, no job, and anyplace where you might find work is facing the same problem. This is the situation faced by thousands or in fact millions of people in the gaming, software, books, music, and cinema industries. We are gradually killing off the industries that are creating so much of the content we love.

EA Sports, the largest gaming company in the world, has a tremendously popular game title “Madden”. This game is no longer available on the PC because the rampant piracy of PC games means that EA can no longer generate profit on making and selling these games for PC’s. Hence, most games are now being produced for XBOX and Playstation because it’s harder to hack these boxes. The most common explanation I see floating around is that gaming companies make a lot of money and if they price games cheaply, people might buy original games. Would any of you be happy if I was given the right to decide your salary based on what I felt was a good lifestyle for you? Then, how can you have the moral right to even make this argument.  

Do you know that Jeffry Archer launched his latest book in India this year? It was not because he loved Indians hence wanted to launch his book here. He said that publishers are scared that within a week of release, pirated copies would flood the market and book sales would be badly affected. Most people buy and read books because they are book lovers. The only source of income for the authors, publishers, editors, and book shop owners is the revenue generated from book sales. It’s one thing to be a college going teenager with a miserly pocket money to buy pirated books and quite another for earning professional to commit this sin. Please tell me you value the book you read more than a brunch at Pizza Hut, which will give you nothing but oodles of cheese, on top of pastry flour, accompanied by 8 tea spoons of sugar in soda. It takes authors around 4-5 years to write a well researched book, which you read over a period of 3 days. Don’t perceive the value of the book in terms of 15 reading hours. Think of the years spent by the writer who went over every sentence hundreds of times to ensure it delights your senses. Think of the editor who spent month’s fine tuning the text so that you have a pleasurable reading experience. Now decide the value of the book and think if you want to pay the author his dues or contribute to terrorism incidents around the world because that where most of the money from piracy ends up.

The story is the same if you look at examples in the cinema and music industries. The next time you criticize the decaying state of songs and movies, know that you have only yourself to blame. Genuinely talented people cannot make low budget films because they will not draw crowds to theaters and the DVDs will never generate revenue since piracy will kill it. Hence, you would have some great movies that would acquire a cult status over years but the producer and director might be bankrupt since most people would see the movie on pirated CDs or DVDs and blog about it. 

The question that often puzzles me is why intelligent people who can afford to buy original content lean towards piracy? I believe there are two important reasons. The first one is an attitude issue on the part of the consumer and the second one is an attitude issue on the part of the content providers.  Let’s examine them one after the other. 

  1. The GOOGLE PROBLEM:A major issue with the current generation of Internet hatched human beings is that we genuinely believe that we are using some wonderful services without paying for them. I think Google has a major role in pioneering this perception change. Google offers us an amazing search engine “completely free”. Google seems to believe in the concept “The best things in life like love and contentment are free”. I think this philosophy is a load of nonsense. We seem to discount the effort that goes into a relationship to convert it into “sustainable love”. Similarly, the detachment you have to develop to actually find contentment in the seemingly organized chaos of human life cannot be developed without years of practice. Google might not charge us for any searches but it is valued at 111Billion dollars. It makes this money by directing traffic over the Internet to specific Websites and then placing advertisements on those sites. The companies that pay Google for such advertising are indeed passing on this cost to customers when we use their services. Since, Google is valued at 111 Billion and we don’t pay a single penny for it directly to Google, we mistakenly assume that it’s a free service. Companies like Google and Facebook are exploiting this cognitive gap. Since, we assume that Google and Facebook are free services, we are naturally resistant to pay for services such as games, movies, and books, which cannot afford to hide layers of advertisements in its folds and pass on the cost indirectly to us. We then convince ourselves with the argument that all publishers, gaming companies, and movie studios make a fortune and hence we are not doing anything wrong if we consume pirated content. After all, the best things in life such as love, contentment, Google, and Facebook are “free”. 
  2. The LADY GAGA PROBLEM:The most common argument offered by people supporting the piracy brigade is that the content is obscenely priced and musicians, authors, and gaming companies are making fortunes. Let’s look at some numbers to get a little perspective on this. In 2010, thirty million books were published in only the US. In the same year, 2000 movies were released in India, and 1638 games were released in the US. If you look at the sales data for each of these content categories, you will realize that only the top 5% in each category make any profit and top 2% are responsible for about 40% of the total money generated in each category. What happens to the other 95% of content released? Is it so bad that it finds no viewers? Here, we arrive at what I can call is the Lady GAGA problem. We consider a couple of people to be representative icons of the industry and then judge the industry based on their actions. Hence, if we talk about piracy in the music industry, people talk about the millions vegetating in Lady GAGA’s accounts and her over the top life style. They use her as an example for homogenizing the music industry as a bunch of millionaire freaks that have all the money in the world and hence downloading pirated songs is not going to hurt them. Similarly, every year the list of growing millions in bank accounts of a few Hollywood superstars seems to be indicative of the fact that Hollywood production companies and actors don’t need any money and hence piracy will not hurt them. What we forget is that we are not selective about piracy. We don’t pirate only songs from a specific artist or movies from a particular production studio. Once we enter the murky lanes of piracy, we pick up everything we get and consume that content. The smaller players who don’t have the financial muscle are really badly hit by our actions and quietly pack up their bags to head off to alternate careers. How many of us sit in our cubicles dreaming of either writing a novel, or composing some lyrics, or maybe humming a song and releasing a music album? Well we are crushing our own dreams because we pass moral judgments on the lifestyle of 1% people of an industry and then condemn the entire industry by supporting piracy and morally justifying it. The industries of course harm their own cause by feeding the paparazzi frenzy that exists in today’s world, which strengths the claim that these snooty rich brats don’t need any more of our hard earned money. We need to realize that the Lady GAGA’s of the world are not the only ones creating music. There are many such people and we need to pay them so that they can keep creating great content for us.
I think that golden goose is gradually dying and unless we are address this problem of piracy we will soon lose out on some of simple pleasures in life that we cherish. We the content consumers and the content creators need to work together to overcome this issue of piracy. Companies like EA would help its cause if it opened gaming studios in countries and allowed students to play games at a reasonable price. Hollywood would do well to tone down the celebrity jazz and show people the actual effort it takes to make a movie. Industry icons would do well to understand that they are one of the leading causes of piracy and are killing the industry they represent. Finally, we need to understand that there is a price that we have to pay for every service that is offered to us and look past the illusion of free services generated by billion dollar companies like Google and Facebook.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Now - new, used AND rare books for you at twistntales

Message sent to twistntales@yahoogroups.com today

Hi all,

As the new academic season starts, we at twistntales are back to service you with your book needs. May seems such an ideal time to take a break, but by middle of June, we are itching to go!

We are back with a long reading list for you with a plethora of wonderful books to suit every taste, and we do hope you make the trip to twistntales …. It all seems so convenient to click on the mouse ;-)

This year we have planned to bring you some exciting offerings, and as a starter, we are introducing “used and rare” books in twistntales. We hope that you can find some real treasures on our racks. Do drop in and check them out. For those of you who would like to part with your used books, check our blog (www.twistntales.blogspot.com) for details, or call me (Janaki) at +919960639162.

Now for new books:

Management:

“Adapt: Why Success Always Starts With Failure” by Tim Harford @ Rs.499/- (Pgs 309)

Why is learning from mistakes hard? In this impressive, very readable book author Tim Harford tells you just why Adapt debunks the command and control style of planning and vindicates the trial and error approach with apt examples and inspiring arguments! The book tells us why we need to embrace risk, accept failure and experiment positively- pushing one to be a go-getter! A must read for corporate and entrepreneurs alike, the book is open to anybody trying to make sense of this increasingly complex world which we inhibit!

“Lie spotting: Proven Techniques to Detect Deception” by Pamela Meyer @ Rs.399/- (Pgs 236)

Folks, the ‘moment of truth’ is here! Do you know that there are ten questions out there that will get people to tell you anything? What a wonderful opportunity to bully, right? Lie spotting will tell you about the most dangerous facial expressions to watch out for in business and personal relationships and give you valuable insights on secret deception techniques previously known only to a handful of scientists, interrogators and intelligence specialists! It will educate you about the secret language of communication, gestures, words and emotions making you smart, smarter, smartest!

Indian Writing:

“The Dhamma Man” by Vilas Sarang @ Rs. 250/- (Pgs 171)

Countless books have been written on the subject of the Buddha, isn’t it? Here’s a beautiful biographical novel –sensitive, richly imagined and blended to perfection! Vilas Sarang takes us back to the initial beginnings –His birth under the Sal tree, his childhood and portrays his role as son, husband and father, in a delicate and skillful fashion of an instinctive narrator! Remarkable writing! Be ‘Enlightened’!

“The Prince and the Sannyasi” by Partha Chatterjee @ Rs.395/- (Pgs 650)

The story of the Kumar of Bhawal and the secret history of Indian nationalism is a book like no other that you may have read in recent times. The ‘Bhawal Sannyasi Case’ may have been long closed but Partha Chatterjee attempts to refresh our memory by this first attempt at academic history to deal with the case. The subject is a sensational trial of the 1930s and 1940s of an event of 1909, set against British India vis-à-vis a landed family of East Bengal. The book is a fabulous narrative woven around a real life story in which the truth turns out to be undecidable. When a Sannyasi returns to his kingdom to stake his claim as the long given up dead prince, the legal battle that ensures with witnesses and cross examination on both sides, what emerges is a fascinating battle of narrative history. The book also carries accounts of several women who played roles quite different from those depicted in the judicial discourse back in 1946 which gives the story its essential, alternate perspective! Don’t miss this book. Partha Chatterjee is a true worthy heir to the likes of Amitav Ghosh.

The Inspector Ghote Series

This series is a Bombay based mystery of an incredible Inspector- ‘Ghote Saab”! The adventures of this perfectly lovable ‘Inspector Ghote’ will leave you amused and wanting more! H.R.F Keating authored this series a hundred years back even without visiting India, although the book never once reveals this remarkable secret! Written exceptionally! It’s the Best, Read it!
Titles in this Series all @ Rs. 299/-
“The Perfect Murder”
“Inspector Ghote Breaks an Egg”
“Inspector Ghote Trusts the Heart”

Science

“Bad Ideas? An Arresting History of our Invention” by Robert Winston @ Rs.425/- (pgs 558)

Humans are born with an instinct to create and invent. But have our creations always produced desirable results? ‘Bad ideas’ is a thematic history of human inventiveness and an account of its positive and negative aspects. It over analyses, criticizes, portrays, and deliberates about the ‘ideas and inventions’ across history, concluding on a suggestion- giving, hopeful note! The conversational tone of the book makes a difficult subject quite appealing. Not a bad idea to read this book :)

“The Information: a History, a Theory, a Flood” by James Gleick @ Rs.599/- (Pgs 526)

Although we live in an information age, how many of us actually know what information really is? And hence Gifted Science writer Gleick’s book is a wide-ranging, deeply researched and delightfully engaging history of how we have come to occupy a world defined in bits and bytes. ‘Information has always been our medium’ says Gleick going forward to explain how we’ve progressed from seeing information as the expression of human thought and emotion to looking at it as a commodity that can be processed, like wheat or plutonium. It’s a long, complicated, and important story, beginning with tribal drummers and ending with quantum physics, and in Gleick’s hands it’s sure to be a mesmerizing one!

Coffee Table:

“Bhanu Rajopadhye Athaiya: The Art of costume design” @ Rs.2500/- (pgs 188)

What is common between Guru Dutt`s `Pyaasa`, Richard Attenborough`s `Gandhi` and Ahutosh Gowariker`s `Swades`? The answer is costume designer Bhanu Athaiya! Here is brilliant work on the pioneering vision of a person who shaped the landmarks of Indian film costumes, set the fashion trend of the 1960s and 70s and won Indian cinema the highest acclaim in the international arena! The first Indian to win an Oscar in 1982 for her work in Lord Richard Attenborough’s ‘Gandhi’; Athaiya rests in our hearts as a distinctive classicist!

“First Life: A Journey Back in Time” by David Attenborough @ Rs. 1250/- (pgs 283)

In fifty years of broadcasting Sir David Attenborough has travelled the globe to document the living world in all its wonder. Now in the landmark series First Life, he goes back in time in search of the very first animals! This book is all that and more. It is enriched with stunning photography, state of the world visual effects and captivates the charm of the world’s favourite Naturalist! A treasured keep!

“The Backyard Astronomer’s Guide” by Terence Dickinson and Alan Dyer @ Rs.1295/- (pgs 336)

Are you a budding astronomer or an amateur sky-gazer? Here’s the book you ought to keep handy! In its expanded, fully revised and updated version this book will be happy to help you in your super adventurous sky journeys! With fascinating images, information about latest equipment and modern sky gazing techniques, this book is an indispensable guide to making you an expert!

Young Adults

“Taranauts: The Race for the Glo Rubies (Book 4)” by Roopa Pai @ Rs.145/- (Pgs 120)

Yes kids! They’re back- the fun taranauts in their super creative cum awesome world! After successfully saving Mithiya’s three worlds Shyn, Lustr, and Sparkl they’re at Glo now! Join these bright and brave kids with special powers in their incredibly crazy adventures to bring back the stolen rubies from planet Glo! How successful will they be? Come, dig the fantasy ride! Taranauts book 1: The Quest for the Shyn Emeralds was shortlisted for the Children’s Book Award 2009!

“Annexed: The Incredible story of the boy who loved Anne Frank” by Sharon Dogar @ Rs.299/- (pgs 329)

Remember Peter from Anne Frank’s famous diary? Yes, Peter van Pels -the very same who was compelled to live in hiding with the Franks. So this is Peter’s account of the dark days of the holocaust, experiences of living with Anne and her family and his shocking tale of falling in love with the girl he once hated! So here’s Peter’s Diary- brave, touching and richly imagined! Annexed: The Incredible story of the boy who loved Anne Frank was short listed for the 2010 Costa Children’s Book Award.

“Uncle Pai’s Favourite 50” by Anant Pai @ Rs. 2000/-

Here’s an everlasting treat for all the Amar Chitra Katha (ACK) fans from the ‘going to be missed dearly’ Uncle Pai! Fifty of Uncle Pai’s favourite ACK’s have been put together for us to delight in! This collection also contains a letter specially signed by Uncle Pai! Rush, rush before it goes by!

“Amar Chitra Katha’s for Junior’s” @ Rs.70/- each.

From the ocean of Indian stories, a selection of the wisest and wittiest tales for children- here they are: Junior ACK’s! With coloured pictures, larger font and simpler language, there’s something to learn on every page in these mini sized classics!
Titles so far in this Series:
Krishna Lifts Govardhana
Drona and the Ball Game
Hanuman is Hungry
Krishna and the Yamalaarjuna Trees
Rama and the Squirrel

“Limca Book of Records 2011: Sports Achievers Special” @ Rs.400/-

It’s here! It’s here! The Book of the all ultimate, mind-blowing Indian records! Packed with a variety of the latest, incredible achievements, interview excerpts and amazing pictures this book is surely going to leave you proud to be an Indian! Get ready to be amazed!

“Justin Bieber: Our World” by Millie Rowlands @ Rs.350/- (pgs 45)

Yes, yes- the teenage sensation/heart-throb is here having all our eyeballs popping! To discover how this teenager made fancy headlines by pursuing his dream and trusting his instincts, come grab this cool book!
(This book contains a really, really large and Exclusive poster of Justin!)

Others

“The Poetry of Birds” edited by Simon Armitage and Tim Dee @ Rs. 399/-(Poetry)

Here is a rich, powerful collection of verses on the subject of our feathered companions- birds! The poetry here is inspiring, refreshing and truly life- affirming. Little footnotes bearing some interesting characteristics or peculiarities about the bird under conversation, makes this little book informative and a pleasant read! Most of the poems in this book were written without the aid of Binoculars! Cheers, to the commonplace yet mysterious creatures we share this world with and the poetry they have inspired!

“Chutnefying English: The Phenomenon of Hinglish” Edited by Rita Kothari and Rupert Snell @ Rs.299/- (Pgs 235)

Ek chance milega? Aaj middle east mein peace ho gayi. Cutting chai. Remember the“Pink Chaddi” campaign?
Let’s welcome the cool and happening phenomenon of “Hinglish!” – All set to become a major language in the near future! This book, a creation of the deliberations of leading scholars from literature, language, cultural studies, translation, cinema and new media is a collection of essays, case studies and arguments, analyzing the use of Hindi in English! Or is it English used in Hindi? Read this fun, wow book to find out!

New Arrivals

“Make Yourself Unforgettable: How to Become the Person Everyone Remembers and No One Can Resist” by Dale Carnegie @ Rs.470/- (Pgs 224)
“Stand And Deliver: How to Become a Masterful Communicator and Public Speaker” by Dale Carnegie @ Rs.470/- (Pgs 240)
“The Throne of Fire” by Rick Riordan @ Rs.399/- (pgs 451)
“Time Management Secrets” by Martin Manser @ Rs.150/- (pgs 128)
“Manik-Da: Memories of Satyajit Ray” by Nemai Ghosh @ Rs.199/- (pgs 107)
“1857: The Real Story of the Great Uprising” by Vishnu Bhatt and Godshe Versaikar @ Rs.250/- (pgs 208)
“First Day First Show: Writings from the Bollywood Trenches” by Anupama Chopra @ Rs.499/- (pgs 376)
“Crazy Times with Uncle Ken” by Ruskin Bond @ Rs.175/- (pgs 158)
“The 10 Rules of Sam Walton” by Michael Bergdahl @ Rs.495/- (pgs 259)
“Skin Deep: An Inside Out Approach to Looking Good Naturally!” by Aparna Santhanam @ Rs.199/- (pgs 240)
“Poems Come Home” by Sukrita (Translated by Gulzar) @ Rs.299/- (pgs 120)
“The Business of Cricket: The Story of Sports Marketing in India” by Shyam Balasubramanian and Vijay Santhanam @ Rs.299/- (pgs 193)
“The In-tolerant Indian: Why we Must Rediscover a Liberal Space” by Gautam Adhikari @ Rs.399/- (pgs 228)
“The Corner Office: How Top Ceo’s Made it and How you Can Too” by Adam Bryant @ Rs.399/- (pgs 249)
“Poor Economics: Rethinking Poverty and the Ways to End it” by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo @ Rs.499/- (pgs 303)
“A Poet’s Mind: Selected Quotations” by Rabindranath Tagore @ Rs.99/- (pgs 186)
“Easy Adventure Holidays” by Outlook Traveller @ Rs.95/- (pgs 159)
“Priya: An Incredible Indyaa” by Namita Gokhale @ Rs.350/- (pgs 195)
“Reinventing India” by Raghunath Mashelkar @ Rs.499/- (pgs 403)
“Vintage Guns of India” by S.K. Chatterji @ Rs.1500/- (pgs 196)

Happy Reading, hope to see you at the Store,

From the team at,

twistntales

Used/ Second hand books !

0Used / Rare Books

Twistntales is glad to introduce sale of second hand/ used books as well in the Store at Aundh. Used books are purchased from various sources, one of them being our own esteemed set of customers.

If you wish to sell your used books to twistntales, please keep in mind the following:

1. Selection of books will be the sole prerogative of twistntales.
2. Books will be bought at the price assessed by twistntales. The decision will be final, no claims or negotiations will be entertained. Books once sold will not be returned to original seller.
3. Books to be sold can be dropped off on the 1st/2nd Wed/ Thurs of every month. Kindly make 2 copies of the list of books that you are dropping off and keep a twistntales acknowledged copy with you.
4. Books not selected for purchase can be picked up the following Wed/ Thurs.
5. A credit note will be issued for the value payable for the books. No cash will be paid.
6. The credit note can be redeemed for purchases in twistntales within a period of 3 months.
7. The credit note will be a bearer document.

Some guidelines/ suggestions

1. Text books/ course books/ technical books/ books for various entrance exams will not be accepted for selection.
2. No pirated books please.
3. Books have to be in good condition.
4. Books in English, Hindi, Marathi and some regional languages will be accepted for selection.
5. No magazines please unless they are collector’s issues of National Geographics, Scientific American etc.

We hope to see you at the Store with a huge pile of books to offload!