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Originally Posted by Snarky
If I make a game, record an album, write a book, develop a software application, or whatever, are you seriously suggesting that I have a moral responsibility to pay a bunch of people to distribute it for me, if I don't need them? If I can do it more cheaply and efficiently myself?
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That example isn't too great, since in all cases but the software you'd still have to go the normal route (have the stuff printed, distributed and sold in stores - yeah, there's ebooks, but compared to "real" books, they're an absolute minority), even if you can insure that you sell as many copies as you would sell using a publisher. And no, it doesn't hurt too much if a handfull of companies to that.
But look at things like Amazon. Is it easier than ordering a book from your local bookstore? Sure. But if everyone bought books that way, a million bookstores would have to close down. And "thanks" to Amazon working so effeciently and the ordering process being basically automated, it's not like all those lost jobs could be remedied by employing the people at amazon or something. Less people with a job means less people buying stuff overall, which leads to a hurting economy.
