Comments on: Review: The Pirate’s Dilemma by Matt Mason

By: gary gibson

gary gibson — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:53:26 +0000

Ah,what I meant was that it’s a bit silly putting a price on a PDF you can only read on a computer screen (or admittedly, now I think about it, one of the new large-format ereading devices). I knew about the availability elsewhere: what I was really commenting on was that if you’re going to offer it in a format and ask money for it where you can pay any price you like, why not make it in a rather more flexible format than pdf? It seems a bit like he’s dipping one toe in the water, then running away back up the beach, rather than throwing himself fully into the experience and being a bit more pioneering like the Doctorow’s of the world. But hey, free’s free.

By: Chris Meadows

Chris Meadows — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 08:22:32 +0000

Gary, it is available in (Adobe Secure) ePub, via Waterstone’s, as mentioned in the info box. (And in Kindle and other secure formats, too.) I emailed the author asking if he could make it available in ePub, and he pointed me at Waterstone’s.

By: Gary Gibson

Gary Gibson — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 07:27:38 +0000

Very interesting, and though normally I’d pay at least a couple of quid for the book, it’s only in the form of a print-ready pdf, which makes it a bit useless for anything but casual browsing rather than reading on an e-reading device, and I’m no fan of reading on a computer screen. If the author were inclined or able to make it available in, say, epub format or such, he might stand to make some more money from those willing to pay for a file that can actually be manipulated into a more easily readable form. But I’ll treat the PDF as a ‘taster’ prior to purchase.

By: Steve Jordan

Steve Jordan — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:37:05 +0000

Chris, one thing your review misses related to the “dilemma” is this: Not only does establishment tend to co-opt these pirate movements; but the book also reveals that the instigators of the movements, usually the loudest and most denigrating about the capitalist culture they rail against, generally end up as the most blatant and heinous of capitalists themselves, as this is the real end-goal of the pirate… to become rich and famous, no matter the cost.

As such, the “pirates” largely described in the book are essentially revealed to be ultimately two-faced and hypocritical, fighting against the establishment for only as long as it benefits them, then embracing it like a long-lost son. That, to my mind, is the real dilemma here: Can a pirate remain a pirate, once they have achieved success? The answer is No: They apparently become their own worst enemy, and in many cases, targets for the next pirates that come along…