Ebook Modification Controversy Good For Crypto
Mark Kennedy & Manuel Olumorin
February 27, 2023
GM GM. Lootbox bringing you the Monday web3 gaming news like the sun bringing warm feelings on a freezing day.
For today
- Ebooks being modified and why this could be good for web3
- WAGMI or NGMI? Doodles CEO jumps in the conversation
- The Sneakies - Welcome to web3, EA founder
Who Really Owns An Ebook?
When you buy an ebook, you might think you own it like a hard copy.
But some people who own Roald Dahl's ebooks woke up to find their books have changed, and not slight changes either.
Puffin Books, the publisher, had been quietly making hundreds of changes to the latest editions of his beloved stories, and people are not happy about it.
Check out this example of changes they made.
In the book - The Witches
“Don’t be foolish,” my grandmother said. “You can’t go round pulling the hair of every lady you meet, even if she is wearing gloves. Just you try it and see what happens.”
Becomes
“Don’t be foolish,” my grandmother said. “Besides, there are plenty of other reasons why women might wear wigs and there is certainly nothing wrong with that.”
It is quite literally a whole different meaning. The updated edition included hundreds of changes just like this, effectively changing a historical artist's collective works.
Why is this important for web3?
Similar debates have been posed on ownership of games since digital downloads became the norm. How much of the game license do you own? Should you be able to resell your digital copy when you no longer enjoy the game? Should you be able to play whichever edition you want?
Typically gaming development houses have made additive changes to their content, so what we see with ebooks has yet to play out in gaming. But what is happening in the ebook industry could change user desire towards permanence in digital goods and the ability to resell like the days of hard copies.
Now guess who is already working on solving such problems, web3 developers. If this becomes the trend, we could see another wave of adoption.
WAGMI or NGMI? We Can’t Have It Both Ways
WAGMI (short for "we're all going to make it") has been the banner in crypto for a long time. But recently, the music seems to be changing.
In a recent interview with Decrypt, the CEO of Doodles, Julian Holguin, acknowledged the difficulties that many projects face, and WAGMI is dead because many NFT projects are NGMI (short for "not going to make it"). This is the harsh reality, and we all need to wake up to it.
Let's get to some things Julian said
- A lot of people are struggling in the current climate, and most projects that started are not going to be able to make it through these times.
- He also mentioned that competition between NFT marketplaces like OpenSea and Blur has led to creator royalties taking a backseat, which has affected the available cash for some projects.
- He also noted that the bear market has created a sense of community among some NFT projects. Hard times sure create comradery.
- NFT Paris and other real events can provide a breath of fresh air and positivity for the web3 industry, which saw a decline in 2022 amid the collapse of numerous firms and projects.
- And in-person events allow people to step outside of their echo chambers and bring together web3 communities to promote a deeper sense of connection.
Lootbringer take
WAGMI as an industry, yes. Crypto and associated technologies would be here for a long time. However many projects NGMI. We already saw this movie during the early days of the internet. The internet made it but there are headstones for many projects that were birthed during that time.
The Sneakies
- EA Founder Trip Hawkins, has migrated his talents to web3 joining Gaming Startup Games for a Living as Chief Strategy Officer.
- Blockchain Gaming continues to dominate on-chain activity accounting for 48% of all dapp activity in January 2023.
- Ray tracing is getting enabled on mobile as OnePlus announces a technical partnership with Perfect World Games, bringing the tech that has been exclusive to PCs and high-end consoles.
- Music streaming platform Spotify introduces NFT and token-powered playlists. Could Netflix be next?
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