I found this pretty awesome visual journey threw the evolution of the Photoshop gooie, on deviant art, you guys have to check this out, it's pretty cool.
Sadly, my dad is one of those people. Honesty is overrated! This is the internet! No one knows what you're downloading! Except Lars Ulrich...
Remember, kids, stealing is okay if it's from a big corporation because they have lots of money anyway! *corporation closes with thousands losing their jobs* Uhhh... well, not anymore.
But to counter: the full version of Photoshop CS4 costs $700. I've used the program as far back as version 4, and in all honesty, since at least that point, each new version offers only incremental additions and improvements. 90% of CS4 existed in 4.0. Yet, Adobe still charges $700 for the program.
The reason we have iTunes Store and other services like it is because of Napster and KaZaA and LimeWire upending the traditional business model. People used these services not just because they were free, but because they offered convenience and choice that you couldn't find in a record store. Once stable pay services came to exist, the RIAA found that a lot of the people they demonized were perfectly willing to pay for the likes of a Napster service if only someone offered it to them.
Photoshop is heavily pirated because it's grossly overpriced. If piracy is really hurting Adobe, they should price their product in a way that makes it more accessible. If it doesn't hurt them, and the fact that they do still charge $700 indicates that the damage isn't too severe, then they really have nothing to worry about.
True. I actually haven't downloaded any songs illegally since I got iTunes, now that you mention it, nor have I bought any CDs recently. It really is more about convenience (and about getting only the songs I want for $2 rather than dishing out $15 for an entire CD with only two or three good songs) than it is about getting stuff for free. I still pirate television though. :) But to be fair, I also buy the DVDs if they're available. I mostly just watch unreleased seasons/episodes online. I'm a mostly honest person... mostly.
On another note, as you can tell from my sig, I'm a Metallica fan. The most ironic part about it is that they have Napster and other such services to thank for winning me over. Downloading offered me a means by which to sample their music and I have since bought several of their albums.
