Then what about offering VHS? Look, we know the format is dead, but some vendors still offer them, a few manufactures still make the machines, lots of consumers still use them, myself included, and is it not just a matter of an analog a/v feed?
I do offer videotapes. In fact, that was my only format for the first 6 months, before I added CD-ROMs (don’t have them anymore), and then it was over a year before I added DVDs. However, I don’t actively advertise the VHS format anymore. It makes some parts of my website a bit lighter now, and frankly, videotapes cost me more to produce and especially to ship than DVDs. Customers can request that format if they want, though they have to order by mail.
That eliminates your authoring problem. Just string the things together in sequence and call it a day.
I won’t go into the technical details, but it’s not quite as simple as that, at least not in my case. Among other things, I need to produce a master MiniDV tape. Or rather two, as a backup. Have to make sure there weren’t any problems during the transfer, which is a pain. With clips, you can simply backup the produced AVI clips to disc. As for DVD, the authoring process is actually a lot less of a hassle than the MiniDV creation process. Thing is, however, is that I don’t have a choice but to make MiniDV backups anyway. At least that means that if I offer DVDs, I don’t have much more to do to offer videotapes, since I use the master MiniDVD tapes to make VHS copies.
Then again, I could understand if a producer didn’t want to go to the trouble of processing any orders by hand. You still have to prepare a package and ship it when it’s a VHS order, you know. And like you said, VHS is pretty much dead, or nearly so.
Another thing I’d like to mention it that the special VCR I use to make VHS copies cost me $1800. I figured it was worth it back when it was my only format, but how many people would make such an investment nowadays, what with clips (and even DVDs) being so much cheaper to produce?
If you charge me a little extra for the trouble, it's still worth it to me, 'cause I've saved money in the long run. (And then, I can burn it to a dvd-r myself to preserve it forever.)
But keeping the infrastructure required to produce and ship videotapes may not be worth it for the producer, especially when so few people want videotapes nowadays.
Besides, based on the evidence you've shown, it's not like anyone will miss my business anyway. I'm sorry if that sounds like a bad attitude, but I can't help but feel that there is more to it than pure break-even of costs or even convenience.
What is it about, then? Do you think there’s some sort of government conspiracy against customers who prefer DVDs?
One thing you don’t seem to realize is that most producers aren’t professionals doing this as a full-time job. In most cases wer’re just ordinary people doing this as a sideline from home during our spare time. Personally, I’m a full-time student, with 6 months of internships starting in about a month. Believe me, I’m rather busy right now. I still force myself to produce DVDs, but frankly, I totally understand other producers for making it easier for themselves and selling clips exclusively. It might not seem like it to you, but in my case dropping DVDs would most definitely be a matter of costs and convenience.
Besides which (and I'm sorry if that sounds like a bad attitude), let’s face it, producers are not there to serve the community. As long as they’re respectful of the customers and the community as a whole, and hopefully love and understand the tickling fetish, they don’t have to go the extra mile to make sure absolutely everyone is perfectly happy by offering more than one format if they don’t want to or if they realize it’s not realistic for them to do so. Besides, it simply isn’t possible to please everyone.
I mean there must be some viable reason for continuing to produce tickling vids, otherwise why do it?
You mean physical videos or ticklig material in general? If you mean the former, I’ve already explained my reasons in this thread. If you mean in general, I’ll tell you what my main reason is. As sad as this may seem, due to the many problems involved in running such a business, it soon became more of a chore than something fun for me. But by the time I realized it I had already invested so much in the project that I couldn’t just give it all up. I had to justify all my hard work and make my money back, which took me 3 long years. Now, I do enjoy tickling, and I do like it when people enjoy my work. I care about my customers, which is why I answer every email I get, why I try my best to offer a good service, why I still offer DVDs, etc. But that doesn’t mean that money isn’t an issue. After all, we’re talking about a business, here. One that’s supposed to be fun, but a business nonetheless.
Again, using yourself as an example, although it isn't as profitable for you to offer the full versions, you do it essentially because you care about things like product quality and customer satisfaction. For you, it is about more than just business. That's the difference, plain and simple.
That’s true, and I really appreciate that you realize it. It means a lot to me. But I don’t think it necessarily means that producers who don’t offer DVDs don’t care about their customers.
Again, you would know more about this than I. But I wonder if perhaps another reason for the dvd sales drop also has to do with that people just have less discretionary income these days due to things like skyrocketing gas-prices
It’s possible that has something to do with it. But it doesn’t explain all of it. I’m sure that some of my customers who used to buy DVDs bought them because they didn’t have a choice. It was all I had for sale. Now that I have clips, they swtiched to the format they prefer. Thus I sell fewer DVDs. Much fewer, actually. Not that I sold that many per month before, but the change since I started selling clips is still very significant
I am suggesting that the increasing popularity of clips may not be necessarily because consumers prefer them, but because of other factors, possibly economic.
I don’t think so, or at least I don’t think that’s the main factor. I think that when producers started to offer clips, many customers saw in clips a new format that suited their needs better. They could get them nearly instantly instead of waiting for a week, they could choose the scenes they prefer without having to spend as much as buying a full video, and there was no protential embarrassment that sometimes come with getting a package in the mail at home. Not that I share this very common preference. But it’s how things are in general. In time, more producers realized how much simpler and potentially more lucrative (relatively speaking) selling clips can be. More customers buy clips. Can the producers be blamed for jumping on that wagon? So customers started buying more clips because they became more available, vendors started selling more clips because customers bought more of them, and so on. It’s like commercial radio playing the same commercial music all the time because that’s what listeners request, and the listeners request it because that’s what they’re used to hearing, and they hear it because that’s what plays on the radio, and it’s on the radio because listeners like it and request it because that’s what most people listen to because that’s what plays on the radio…. It’s really hard to break such a vicious circle. But the fact remains that besides the lesser quality of clips and the higher price per minute, many people find them more convenient than DVDs and, if they don’t buy too many clips per series, less expensive.
Personally, there are a TON of dvd's I would love to order at this time, but I simply do not have the cash right now.
Ah, see, that’s another issue. Not everyone has enough money to buy a full DVD. But buying a clip or two may be easier to justify for some people, even if clips are more expensive per minute than a DVD. I’m not talking about buying the whole series, here. Just a few clips from time to time.
Look, I don't want to belabor the point here (this is absolutely my last post on this matter, since I realize it is WAY off topic---sorry NG02!). There are strong arguments on both sides and that's perfectly fine. I respect your opinion, hopefully you respect mine, and we can just agree to disagree.
Sounds reasonable to me. And yes, let’s give this issue a rest, if only because posting these messages takes a lot of time.
