Hey

Hey guys, just for the heads up, I'm always your webmaster by nature yet you took me off your staff status? Hah... Alright lol.

Anywho, I think I've losted from this scene where I've find that scanlations for fans isn't ideal in at the moment. With the amount of Online Viewers Sites floating around using affiliates gains for money isn't really legal no more. We bend our backs for the tankons and time to releasing and what we do for them? earn their cash. It's worse than the labor paid to the Chinks lol.

I guess once graduating with a full time job becomes reality seeking what we are actually doing. The publisher group, the Mangaka itself. Morally we say support the author and publisher yet I'm sure 8/10 don't.

You think their should be a line step in this or what? We are just greedy illegal otaku's looking for cheaper alternative to read manga?

This is a tough question. There are arguments on both sides that have merit. There's quite a spirited discussion about this topic at: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=131141&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Personally, I think that what we're seeing is another outcome of the "disrupter technology" called the internet. The internet has been around long enough that its impact on "how things run" is exponentially growing. Old ways of doing things don't work with the new way things run. How long ago was it that people had to buy a whole CD to get their hands on two of their favorite songs? Napster came along with file sharing. The music industry sued Napster & some individuals. They won. But Napster (& other like-websites) changed what consumers expected. So... what do we have now? You can now buy individual songs via iTunes, etc... even now that whole market is still changing b/c of the internet.

The real issue is that the internet has changed and is continuing to change how people buy, what they buy, how they interact, what they become interested in, etc... it's "disrupting" society globally. No one really knows how it all is going to shake out. Think about how the inventions & mass availability of the clock, eye glasses, the steam engine, & the transistor changed the world. Think about the industrial revolution, the automobile, electricity... we all see the amazing things they brought about, but it wasn't necessarily an easy transition for those who lived through it. I'm sure whole markets disappeared while knew ones mushroomed up. We're in the beginning phases of one of these eras right now. Did you know, that for the first time ever, all generations living on the planet (3 or 4) are media driven? The old rules can't encompass or address how the computer & internet has changed & is changing society. Unfortunately, change of the rules to morally and fairly address the changes the internet brings (such as how to compensate the mangaka & publisher that owns the rights) will most likely not be easy or quick. It'll be painful to some degree.

Anyway. That's my take. There's no easy answer. It's gonna hurt somewhere. Regardless, put your safety belts on because the next 5 - 20 years is going to be one CRAZY ride.

Not to forget that you can discuss on so many points related to this. You can almost make a manga or anime about it, that would have over 50 volumes and 500 episodes.

sorry!!! and as for the other things, i can't really comment. i'm not aware of the whole scanlating world. as for area no kishi it isn't licensed in english to my knowledge so i'm just making it readable for others so i can fangirl with them. that was my original intention same with GK, i guess. well, not that i can really comment now... with my level ofa ctivity

That'd be one soap-opera-like manga. It could even be violent (if you read some of the discussions... yeesh, if words could burn...).

But, no doubt about it, the 50 volume manga would get scanlated and there'd be a cult-like following spanning the globe and it would be weird b/c it'd be a scanlated manga about scanlated manga. A dream within a dream, a reflection within a reflection... where would it end?

Je ne regrette rien <.<

zilch wrote:That'd be one soap-opera-like manga. It could even be violent (if you read some of the discussions... yeesh, if words could burn...).

But, no doubt about it, the 50 volume manga would get scanlated and there'd be a cult-like following spanning the globe and it would be weird b/c it'd be a scanlated manga about scanlated manga. A dream within a dream, a reflection within a reflection... where would it end?

that's beginning to sound like inception...

Personally, I look at it this way - we're greedy poor student otaku looking for a cheap alternative (there are internet costs involved!), and until we get a proper full time job, it'll be scanlators we rely on! =P

As for what zilch was saying about the internet changing what consumers expect, I think she's onto something. If I look at how the internet's affected my purchasing behaviour w/ regards to music or manga/anime, I now see torrents for music/scanlated manga/fansubbed anime as an 'unlimited' preview of sorts. If I end up properly liking it, then I'll be purchasing it on CD/DVD/tankoban format. Of course, I do admit, this argument is in a sense me trying desperately to justify my legally questionable actions, but I know plenty of other people who've fallen into this line of thinking.

duh. people used to buy albums just to get that one song. the internet and napster made obtaining individual songs easy and possible. so consumers' expectations changed. hello itunes among others.

Eek Gads. Do you guys remember the days before commercial websites? Or am I just too old? I dimly remember it. You couldn't buy anything on the web. No Amazon.com. How about dial-up?

The internet is changing society on all levels: commercial, social, political, etc... I just heard about a book called "The Starfish and the Spider" which is a business book about leaderless organizations. The most recent "Tea Party" political movement in the States are based on this concept, which is possible because of the Internet, Twitter, Facebook, etc... The Internet has opened up new possibilities, so ways of doing business (or politics) that were ineffictive before, suddenly are possible & maybe even powerful, while current run-of-the-mill ways of doing business are all of the sudden obsolete.

I'm curious/excited/anxious to see what happens b/c I think very few, if anyone, knows where the Internet & all the things it makes possible, will take us. Doesn't it give you the willies to see the world being shaped before your eyes? (Kindof like how in junior high school geography, I thought to myself "maps don't change -- countries remain the same, they aren't conquered or change their names, so I'll only have to memorize them once"... yeah, right. )

lol nup, you're not too old. I still remember the days of dad playing DOOM on PC powered by a Pentium I. And dial-up internet. hahaha it's funny, kids nowadays have no idea what the tone is.

I'll admit that I'm not actually using the internet to its full potential right now (as of currently, cloud computing and social networking on the go with smartphones seems to be 'in', and I don't really use either...) but that's not to say that I can't see how its affecting life. Just recently, Australia had a federal election. All the MPs were Twittering away like crazy, and the prime minister candidates were running Youtube campaigns. On the social side of things, the internet's allowing people to stay in touch ridiculously easily. In fact, judging from what I see at lectures and tutorials, people pay more attention to facebook than what's happening in class.

The commercial side's benefitted heaps from the internet, but the most exciting prospect I find with the internet is with more medical related type areas. Remote surgery, remote GP check ups, remote vital signs monitoring - all that can be facilitated by the internet.

While it may seem a bit far-fetched now, I wouldn't be surprised if our society ends up being connected in the way people are in the Ghost in the Shell universe. And if you haven't watched Ghost in the Shell (the movies and the Stand Alone Complex series), go check them out. Definitely one of the more... thought provoking and better produced anime series out there.

i remember dialup!!! bahahahhaa. and yes days before internet buying. actually i still don't buy on the internet that much. and twitter is strange...

i think the internet may actually cheapen social contact so it's important to strike a balance.

Yay! A new anime to check out. Thanks justam!

Yup! There'll be a whole new set of psychosis for you to diagnose Kouri-chan! People don't change, so we'll have the same set of problems, just in different clothing.

Have any of you read Tad Williams' "Otherland" series? I started to read it a few years ago, but let someone borrow the first book & never saw it again. It's about virtual reality fused with fantasy. It seems like we're heading in that direction....

I also read an article several years ago about how a gent had a chip implanted in his arm with his medical history on it (I guess he had some severe medical issues). As a way of trying to encourage that industry to grow. A political figure from South America (?) got one too as a tracking device (GPS) since kidnapping was a distinct possibility for political figures in his country. So remote monitoring is possible, the technology is there or close to it. It's more a matter of society accepting it or it being packaged in a way that society accepts & desires.

The medical side is changing superfast. On top of the Internet, robotics, etc... you've got all of the research that this technology make possible. Mapping the genome, biomedical research... It's crazy amazing. I saw a news clip the other day where doctors had developed a new procedure to remove a brain tumor through the eyelid! Wow!