permaculture

[christophe mckeon gonzalez de leon <chromatophore@gmail.com>]

this pretty much nails it on the head. tagari had a good
business model in the 70s before the internet. now they
are just paddling against the data flow. reminds me of
the pc principle of not trying to impose our preconceptions
on the landscape, in the end it's counterproductive.

thanks for the info and the blog,
_c

On Thu, Dec 3, 2009 at 12:25 AM, Evan Schoepke
<thejulianeffect@gmail.com> wrote:
> This post is in regards to the Permaculture copyright
> discussion<http://punkrockpermaculture.com/2009/11/10/permieliberation/>earlier
> and I know your tired of it but it is really important:
>
> Okay, so I figured it out, I'm from a generation that inherently understands
> the long tail <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Tail> vs the
> short in regards
> to spreading or selling of information.  I'm not saying that is good or bad,
> but it is different.  We can argue different philosophies (and should) sure,
> but it is hard to argue with a calculator.
> This was a great comment I received on punk rock permaculture
> ezine<http://www.punkrockpermaculture.com>that made me see the
> incredibly powerful
> value ($) of *the Long Tail <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Tail> 
> *and
> why exactly it is *good for poor folks, small publishers, folks that don't
> speak english, trees, the planet, permaculture and more*!  I and many others
> love Tagari we just want to see permaculture grow faster and wider than ever
> before in order to avert more ecological and social destruction. In order to
> do that it is my very sincere belief Tagari desperately needs to adapt to
> the digital age.
>
> Comment:
> The last poster really said it. Tagari has a few large paper products, but
> if they were willing to digitize more of their library, they would have a
> huge catalog: PDC videos and audio sets, surveys of individual property
> designs, business documents, a large number of Bill's and others'
> permaculture articles, audiobooks versions of things, etc etc. Tagari's
> distribution model is severely limiting the dissemination of their works,
> and surely their profits as well. If they sold the Manual as a PDF for $1, I
> bet they would make more money per annum from those sales than from all
> hardcopy sales, from which they probably make $50 or less in profit each.
>
> They could be selling digital copies of out-of-print works every day of the
> week for a small price, and make more money that way than saving up for
> another print run. If they had several dozen digital products going for 99
> cents each, of high quality and packaged well, they would surely reap much
> more profit than trying to rely on sales of a few short-run printed
> materials. And as has been said above, since they are such a niche producer,
> they would undoubtedly draw in a great deal more hardcopy sales from all the
> publicity of a cheap internet sales presence.
>
> Information wants to be free, because it is digitizable and therefore easily
> reproduced. There is no point in trying to "protect" it. The law on this
> point is simply unenforceable and backward. Moreover, it would be to
> Tagari's great enrichment to recognize the true nature of their resources.
> They would surely profit from a more creative approach to "publishing".
>
> I am ever more suspicious of Mollison's business legacy. If his foundation
> and income in old age actually relies so much on publishing profits, its
> other ventures must have failed, such as property holdings, added-value and
> land production systems, equipment rental, vacation rentals, and above all,
> income from teaching courses and design services. How could this be? How
> could an organization advocating such a robust and industructable
> money-making system rely on feeble book sales?
>
> "Gratis and libre" is the pathway to money. I would say Leo has the right
> idea in "asking for permission" first, and that something could have
> probably been worked out with Tagari. But that is obsolete now, in that PDCs
> and Manuals hit the torrents a few years ago. Now Tagari might learn from
> this episode, spread the word digitally, and *make some real money!* Get
> those awesome lectures from the 80s on iTunes Bill! Join the Long Tail
> already *sheesh*.
>
> You can see all comments on this post here:
> http://punkrockpermaculture.com/2009/11/10/permieliberation/#comments
> --
> Thank you for your time
> ~evan
> gaia punk designs
>
> The obstacle is the Path.
> -Zen Proverb
>
> I write at www.punkrockpermaculture.com
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