Guestblogger Arthur Goldwag is the author of "Cults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies: The Straight Scoop on Freemasons, The Illuminati, Skull and Bones, Black Helicopters, The New World Order, and many, many more" and other books.
No, not really. But when I was a freshman in college in 1975,... More.
A reader writes, "The Catena wall clock harkens back to traditional mechanical clocks. Copper digits mounted onto a bicycle chain place emphasis on the cyclical nature of time. This clock is a striking clock, literally and figuratively."
Well, not literally. But figuratively. And man, was this t... More.
A strapped-for-cash middle school in North Carolina is selling test points to students for $20. ... More.
Gretchen Rubin, author of the forthcoming book, The Happiness Project, offers several good de-cluttering tips in a blog post titled "Eleven Myths of De-Cluttering."
Here are the first three:
1. "I need to get organized." No! Don't get organized is your first step.
2. "I need to be hyper-organize... More.
Guardian: "The world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit, according to a whistleblower at the International Energy Agency who claims it has been deliberately underplaying a looming shortage for fear of triggering panic buying."... More.
Note on price: we get a lot of emails asking about donations. We like to send people something tangible for their money, so we're offering these prints Radiohead-style -- you can choose what to pay for them (above the default $15). If you want to donate money to the site but don't want a bunch of merch, just order a print or two and set your own price. Thanks!
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It's not really Radiohead-style because of the minimum "donation." That's a bit misleading.
Radiohead style? Does that mean that Randall's going to release a higher quality print later, but with a stipulated price?
Wait, so is the $15 a minimum or a recommendation?
I put "1" into the box, pressed "add to cart" and the sub total came up as "15".
It's a minimum.
Let me translate XKCD's promotion:
"We're selling signed prints of strips for $15 apiece." period.
It's disturbingly cynical of XKCD to use Radiohead's bold marketing ideas to give some legitimacy to their pandering. Radiohead took a real risk in doing what they did. They may have ended up losing money on the venture.
Setting a minimum price and then claiming that the consumer can choose what they pay is insulting.
Anyone that disagrees, please contact me about an old bicycle I'm selling. You can pay whatever you like (above the default $20,000)
Of course this is tangible merchandise, not a download. There's going to be a baseline cost for the materials, labour and postage. He might have been joking about the Radiohead thing.
Obviously the correct thing to do is to make a hi-res electronic version of the map available for purchase, with no minimum price. That way people can pay whatever they want for the image, but they are on their own getting it into the physical world.
The physical version with a minimum price is a convenience that you should expect to pay money for, since there are costs associated with it's distribution.
Problem solved.
I guarantee it doesn't cost him $15 to print each strip. And shipping is not included in that price.
Imagine this scene at a brick-and-mortar store:
"That'll be $23.95, sir. Would you like to add a $20 donation on top of that to help our bottom line?"
Or what if every store put a sign next to the register saying, "Will Accept More Money Than The Asking Price For Any Item In Store"?
Bottom line: either run a store or ask for donations. Doing both is beyond tacky.
I'm probably making way too much of this. It just rubs me the wrong way.
How are these prints not merch? If people don't want the print, but do want to donate money, why not give them the option?
@Edgore's got the right idea.
while i agree that perhaps the radiohead part of the statement is a little misleading, i think there may be a bit of (wilful?) misunderstanding going on here.
if you actually click through to see the store, it's quite clear that these are items for sale: it's a store, the prints cost $15.00. in italics at the bottom is the chunk quoted, which *i* interpret as saying "look, we don't have a "donate" option although lots of people ask for it - why not just buy a print (so you get something out of it), and if you feel like throwing more on top, go ahead".
I've been in "stores" that accept donations -- bars and nightclubs with a tip jar on the bar. I often chuck in 20p if I get a glass of tap water (which is free) or if I'm particularly drunk.
As far as I can see this is a cynical marketing ploy; disappointing behaviour.
Well, technically all stores automatically have that. The prices on the tags aren't particularly binding on anyone... they're more of a guideline.
It's called "invitation to treat".
You can walk into a shop and offer any price you feel like paying for an item. It's up to the shopkeeper to accept or refuse the offer.
whatever.
i love xkcd. i read it all the time. i am willing to give a little extra. bandwidth costs money. life costs money.
i'm willing to give a little. i've gotten a lot.
XKCD backing out on their own supposed geek-morals.
shocking.
whiners. Think of it as being able to say you bought something from the guy in the hat.
whiner whiners
"Note on price: we get a lot of emails asking about donations. We like to send people something tangible for their money, so we're offering these prints Radiohead-style -- you can choose what to pay for them (above the default $15). If you want to donate money to the site but don't want a bunch of merch, just order a print or two and set your own price. Thanks!"
Takuan, the best way to change people's opinion isn't calling them whiners (or being wrong)
I'm hitting you over the head, not trying to change your opinion. (I crush your head, I crush it!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbETsbv1NZ4)
Wasn't there just an article in the NYTimes about how he and his roommate were making bank with XKCD? donations above and beyond?
"(above the default $15)"
I'd say the default is actually $25 seeing as that's the amount in the box when you first load the site up. That's plain crappy.
Itsumishi,
weirdly, last week the default amount was 15, in the little box.. hah!
..I think :)