Wil Shipley on ignorant pro-DRM analysts

In a brilliant post titled "Steve Jobs v. Underwear Gnomes" Will Shipley offers this excellent conclusion to his most eloquent rant.

Next time, AP, call me, I'll give you a damn quote. Here, the first one is free: "It's about time record execs pull their heads out of their asses, and, after the giant 'schloORK' sound is done ringing in their ears, they start treating valued customers like they are valued and/or customers, instead of like a seething criminal class. Yes, there will always be people who steal music. So either offer the rest of us a compelling alternative to being one of them, or die the dinosaur's death that you so richly deserve."

[Via Call Me Fishmeal.].

The thing is, I'm a Delicious Monster client, and have no doubt I will remain so through future versions. Not because there aren't alternatives (none as nice yet, but there are a couple of promising challengers), and not because I can't live without the functionality the software offers (though it is a godsend). It's thanks to my experience a few months after buying a license. I had a question about library merges and scanning cover art, and was expecting a few days wait while someone got around to sending me a form reply, or a referral to a new version of a FAQ, or some other time-waster to check if my problem would just go away. It saddens me that I've come to expect that from most services providers. But lo and behold, within a few hours there was in my inbox a very thoughtful reply, several suggestions for solutions, and an explanation of why some feature was currently unavailable. And did I mention that it was thoughtful, well written, and quite funny in places. Most importantly it was a personal reply from someone who took the time to care that I was having trouble figuring out how to use the application in an undocumented manner. So yes, treating a customer as a valued customer really works for me at least. Thanks Wil!

P.S. Oh, be sure to read Wil's full post, it's very good, it's nice to see someone take note of how frustrating pro-DRM arguments by "analysts" can be for computer scientists ... I don't know if analysts like this even care if they're wrong or right, or if they simply care about sounding right for their clients (pity the ignorant, for preaching to them is easy).