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  • Andrew (making toys)ajroach42@retro.social
    Nov 14, 2024, 3:59 PM

    So what can we do about it?

    Well, I dunno! I can tell you what I'm trying.

    I don't have streaming subscriptions (well, sort of. My household has two or three, but they're not *mine*) but I have the budget that I had previously allocated towards streaming services and every month I spend it on independent media.

    For every streaming service my household subscribes to, we also allocate at least that much money towards paying artists directly.

    It's not a ton of money, a few dozen dollars. It buys a couple of digital albums, a game or two, whatever.

    But it's cash going directly to artists.

    If more folks would do this, it would be a net good.

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Replies

  • Andrew (making toys)ajroach42@retro.social
    Nov 14, 2024, 4:04 PM

    I'm working on some more Review and Curation style stuff. We've done a lot of that in our zine over the years, but I always felt bad telling people to buy things.

    I'm not going to feel bad anymore.

    The next issue of our zine (and therefore the next several blog posts on our blogs) will feature a bunch of articles that are explicitly endorsements of independent media with specific and detailed information about how and where and why to purchase it.

    I'm going to put together a few pages on my website that are just curated collections of things that are being published online, along with information on how and where and why to send the creators money.

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  • Andrew (making toys)ajroach42@retro.social
    Nov 14, 2024, 4:07 PM

    And I'm going to start making tapes again.

    Well, probably flash drives, but the sentiment is the same.

    I release the things I make under clear "shareware" terms (cc-by-sa baby), but I'm going to start including a "nag screen" in everything. I'm going to bring "send me $10" back in to the mainstream kicking and screaming.

    And, guess what, I'm going to start doing little shareware collections again too. I did it when I was 9 because I loved to share the things I was playing with other people. When I made money on it, that money went to get more things that I turned around and shared again.

    I still love it. I'm still going to charge for them. I'll stick to things that were explicitly licensed for redistribution, I'm not going to lean in to piracy at this time (but if someone does, fuckin' great.)

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  • Andrew (making toys)ajroach42@retro.social
    Nov 14, 2024, 4:13 PM

    How can we re-build and re-strengthen the networks that Google, Facebook, Youtube and Amazon have stolen from us?

    How can we reclaim the magic of tape traders, pirate radio, and zine culture in the modern era?

    These are the same question! We just do it.

    Let's trade tapes. Let's make zines. Let's focus on the human curatorial aspect of all of this. It's easy as fuck to set up an internet radio station, you don't need anyone's help or permission. You do need to get the word out that it exists, and that's harder (but that's where the zines and the tapes come in! That's where the Solidarity comes in. When you launch an internet radio station, let me add it to my soon to come repository of internet radio stations. DMOZ baby.)

    And, hey, if the FCC doesn't have the funding to hunt down pirate radio stations, and ten thousand new ones pop up in the next four years, even if they do get the funding again some day to try and shut em down... Cultural sea change might just make that an impossible position.

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  • Andrew (making toys)ajroach42@retro.social
    Nov 14, 2024, 4:17 PM

    The fact that the modern world has robbed us of universal formats for sharing movies, music, and games is sad.

    Okay,"universal" in a loose sense. They weren't actually Universal. But, if you wanted to share a movie with someone in 1995 you put it on a VHS tape, and in 2005 you burned it to a(n SV)CD-R or if you had money a DVD-R.

    Everyone used to have a tape player, or an optical drive, or a floppy drive. Most folks could launch DOS and Windows apps, even the ones who primarily used mac or linux.

    My wife's new car doesn't have a CD drive. My laptop doesn't have an optical drive. Most folks I know don't have a DVD player. I only know one person with a floppy drive.

    The Internet is the new Universal format, but the Internet is also a panopticon surveillance machine in which someone could be watching you at all times even though they probably aren't right now.

    So I'm going with flash drives + web pages. Stick it in to most blueray players or other media players, and it'll play. Stick it in to most cars, it'll play. Stick it in to your computer, and you get links to pay every artist involved should you choose to do so.

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  • Andrew (making toys)ajroach42@retro.social
    Nov 14, 2024, 4:18 PM

    So how can we re-build and re-strengthen the networks that Google, Facebook, Youtube and Amazon have stolen from us?

    By embracing human connection, rejecting algorithmic curation, and taking the time to celebrate the things we love.

    We re-build and re-strengthen those networks with intention.

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  • Andrew (making toys)ajroach42@retro.social
    Nov 14, 2024, 4:20 PM

    That leaves these discussion questions:

    - How can you lift others up?

    - How can your work be a pointer to the work of others?

    - How can you (re?)integrate Shareware Principles into your life and work?

    - If someone's work brings you joy, how can you support or encourage them?

    And I could share my answers to them, but I think I already have. What I do will not be the same as what you do.

    What will you do?

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  • Andrew (making toys)ajroach42@retro.social
    Nov 14, 2024, 4:26 PM

    and (in closing, I think) allow me to humbly ask that you Make Things and Share Things that other people have made.

    Pay people who make things you like. Pay people who share with you things that you like.

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  • Andrew (making toys)ajroach42@retro.social
    Dec 13, 2024, 2:15 AM

    This thread I wrote a few weeks ago about digital media distribution is making the rounds today.

    On the back of that, I saw an announcement that LG is getting out of the bluray market.

    This isn't about profit or consumer preference, it's about control. Without physical media, there is no ownership. Without ownership, there is no history.

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  • Andrew (making toys)ajroach42@retro.social
    Feb 27, 2026, 12:15 AM

    This thread I wrote a year ago got boosted up onto my timeline again and I'm revisiting it.

    I have thoughts. I'll probably write a blogpost.

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  • Andrew (making toys)ajroach42@retro.social
    Oct 9, 2026, 11:21 PM

    This thread that I wrote two years ago has been on my mind again tonight as I consider starting a shareware livestream.

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