[design219]

Back in the day when it was easier, I'll admit I took home some work software...Photoshop in particular, just to use for family photos. I also have maybe 5 or 6 songs in my iTunes which may have passed through Limewire at some point over the last few years. And I'm sure I have a few fonts that I may not have licenses for.

[Laminar]

Back in college I was big into IRC and the software I got from it. Now, my needs are basic enough that they're covered by freeware.

[Oneota]

I ran a pretty major Hotline Tracker back in High School. Cyberdream, I think (been awhile). Sucker ran on a Power Mac 6110 and was one of the most popular Hotline trackers around in its day.

[sek929]

In the Napster days I downloaded thousands of songs, in college I got help pirating Lightwave 3D and FCP by the head of the Electronic Imaging Dept., and nowadays I download albums before they are released (like the new Mars Volta) and then end up buying them, ripping the CD, and tossing it somewhere I'll never have to look at it again.

I bought 10.1, pirated 10.2, pirated 10.3, bought 10.4, and am buying SL.

Recently I pirated CS4 suite, mainly for PS, and I bought VMware Fusion.

[torsoboy]

In the 90s I used IRC to download a lot of computer games (that I usually never played more than once, but it was fun getting stuff for free), and then in the early 2000s I download a few hundred songs. I haven't pirated anything in the last 7 or 8 years.

[osiris]

Argh, back in the day I lived off the shores of hotline - way before limewire was a wee little lass.
Alas, I've moved on to more legitimate wares, with the exception being whatever high bit rate youtubes I can grapple - mostly music of great antiquity for this sea dog's ears. Argh.

[olePigeon]

I haven't pirated software since the Apple II... but who didn't pirate software for the Apple II? I've been fortunate enough to work at places that provided the software I needed.

I guess the closest I get to piracy is downloading TV episodes when I miss them on TV. I don't have a DVR and I hate Flash video.

[sek929]

Remember the days when you could pirate Photoshop by simply dragging the app to a zip disk, and then drag it off the disk to another computer?

[Laminar]

I loved Zip disks.

[osiris]

aaah, Zip disks... I had a few that lasted for years. Then they started to suck for some reason (that clicking noise was never appreciated). Jaz drives weren't much of an improvement (I'm being nice) - but that could haul quite a booty.

[sek929]

I had at least 50% of my disks go south on me with the infamous clicking, but that's why I had backups.

Recently, like last year, I was given a Jazz Drive and Jazz Disks that were kicking around my uncles. I took one look at the massive SCSI cable and said no thanks.

[64stang06]

My art teacher in HS gave me the floppies for Photoshop to install on my home computer and told me to pass it along.

[Shaddim]

I buy everything, and have for many many years... except Windows, **** you Bill!



(Although, I will be buying Win7 since it's actually worth the money.)

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

I loved Zip disks.

I hated Zip. I was an Imation SuperDrive fan. Held 20MBs more space, was faster, didn't suffer from "click of death," and it could read normal floppies. It also had the ability to format 1.4MB floppies as 7MB floppies.

It was awesome. Too bad they never caught on. It was a the perfect transitional technology.

[sek929]

Correct me if I'm wrong, and I usually am, but didn't the SuperDisk come out some time after ZIp?

Edit: Just got a small laugh about 20MB more space being a strong selling-point.

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by sek929 

Correct me if I'm wrong, and I usually am, but didn't the SuperDisk come out some time after ZIp?

Yeah, it came out about 3 years after, unfortunately.

Originally Posted by sek929 

Edit: Just got a small laugh about 20MB more space being a strong selling-point.

It could also read and write normal floppies relatively fast and format them into larger capacities. They also released the LS-240 shortly after. It's actually still pretty popular with many servers and PCs that still require floppy drives to update BIOS features. Since it reads/write floppies relatively fast compared to a normal floppy drive, they're useful for speedy upgrades.

[SeSawaya]

I loved my Orb 2.2 gig drive. Never had a day of problems with discs or the drive. My Zip..... ugh

[Salty]

I had a zip 100, WHO COULD POSSIBLY NEED MORE THAN THAT!?

My graphic arts teacher gave me PS 3, then I felt guilty and bought PS LE 5.5 (What became elements). Then from there... I bought Macromedia's suite of Fireworks, Flash, Dreamweaver and FreeHand... in college I had the version of Fireworks I upgraded prove to be entirely worthless with my new wacom tablet. At which point I said screw this and gave into my piracy desires.

I confess I haven't even paid for the last few versions of iWork because there haven't been that many compelling reasons to upgrade (Not to mention I did pay for the upgrade that included only reflections and Intel support.)

Now I run bittorrent on my old PowerBook downloading tons of TV shows (legal in Canada) and who knows maybe some day if Adobe makes a reasonably priced version of Photoshop that I can afford I'll pay for it

[andi*pandi]

I gotta have my bbc scifi.

[abbaZaba]

Originally Posted by Oneota 

I ran a pretty major Hotline Tracker back in High School. Cyberdream, I think (been awhile). Sucker ran on a Power Mac 6110 and was one of the most popular Hotline trackers around in its day.

Hotline was the ****. I think I remember Cyberdream. Tracker-tracker was a nice site for Hotline trackers and remember hot Pitbull could index and search Hotline servers?

[sek929]

I ran a Hotline and Carracho server.

[abbaZaba]

never really got into Carracho as back then I was using windows. The guy who developed Hotline (Adam Hinks) eventually created KDX which was the same sort of client/server/tracker app but was much more stable and feature rich. I ran a KDX server for probably 5 years or so. I ran a Hotline server but it sucked and never got much traffic. it was fun though. I knew a lot of people that moved to KDX from Hotline.

[Stogieman]

Who didn't run a Hotline server back in the day? It all went downhill once Adam Hinks left and a PC version was released.

[abbaZaba]

I'll give it credit for introducing me to the client/server side of sharing files and for eventually turning me on to KDX (which Hinks created) and which I used for close to 6 years

[Phileas]

When I started my business I went 100% legit. I figured now that I was using software to make money it would be only fair to pay for it.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Salty 

who knows maybe some day if Adobe makes a reasonably priced version of Photoshop that I can afford I'll pay for it

They do.

The student version is €200 including taxes, IIRC. Though you can get the full Design Standard Suite for €229 as a student.

Surely, they must have comparable offers in the States? Adobe notoriously gouges the European market.

[shifuimam]

I have never ever ever downloaded anything off any kind of file-sharing site. I don't even know what Bittorrent is.

That being said, it's interesting to see how the software industry has reacted to the ease of piracy compared to the measures taken by the RIAA and the MPAA. Software manufacturers, unlike the latter two cartels organizations, don't really rely on consumer, end-user purchases to carry the bulk of their annual profits. The real money is in the contracts with corporations and schools that rake in several million each. It seems as though the software industry just hasn't been hurting nearly as much, because their business model isn't consumer-dependent.

Originally Posted by Salty 

maybe some day if Adobe makes a reasonably priced version of Photoshop that I can afford I'll pay for it

Photoshop Elements is like $99 USD (I think). It's actually not that bad - it has some decent features, if you just need basic graphics editing. I'm not sure if there's an OS X version.

I use Seashore (in OS X) for anything that doesn't require the advanced tools in Photoshop.

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

They do.

The student version is €200 including taxes, IIRC. Though you can get the full Design Standard Suite for €229 as a student.

Surely, they must have comparable offers in the States? Adobe notoriously gouges the European market.

Not if your chosen higher education institution doesn't have a contract with Adobe - and even then, the pricing varies from school to school.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

(PhotoShop Elements). I'm not sure if there's an OS X version.

There is, and it's dire. Commandeers your whole screen without asking you if you'd like it to do that.

[KCrosbie]

I downloaded porn for free and didn't pay for it.

[- - e r i k - -]

Hotline was the diggediybomb. I ran a Hotline server off my dad's work's PowerMac 6100 server on an ISDN line. (Hi •—[ Grim's Hangout ]—• fans!). Carracho was meh and all KDX had was a crappy interface and a rotten attitude.

I may or may not indulge in grey wares now, but as a responsible adult I try to pay for most of what I use and consume these days.

[olePigeon]

The second the PC version was released, the trackers were inundated with child porn servers.

[Spheric Harlot]

Carracho was WAY better.

It was like Hotline without all the assholes.

I ran a small server back in the day.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

Photoshop Elements is like $99 USD (I think). It's actually not that bad - it has some decent features, if you just need basic graphics editing. I'm not sure if there's an OS X version.

It's absolutely awful.

I refuse to endorse it.

It has some perverse hybrid of Windows control buttons and a Mac window stuck in between two layers of screen rape, and even comes with Windows wizards to help make you feel stupid and incapable.

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

Not if your chosen higher education institution doesn't have a contract with Adobe - and even then, the pricing varies from school to school.

Here in Europe, there is no contract needed. You waltz into a store, buy the student version, waltz home, install it, and send Adobe a copy of your student I.D. so that they'll send you the code.

[angelmb]

Originally Posted by olePigeon 

I hated Zip. I was an Imation SuperDrive fan. Held 20MBs more space, was faster, didn't suffer from "click of death," and it could read normal floppies. It also had the ability to format 1.4MB floppies as 7MB floppies.

It was awesome. Too bad they never caught on. It was a the perfect transitional technology.

I have both, my Yosemite G3 came with a Zip, and I still have the SuperDisk over the desk… I wasn't aware about the LS-240 version which could reformat a standard 1.44MB floppy to a whooping 32MB.

I can't remember the SuperDisk (mine is the blondi blue model) being faster than the G3's internal Zip drive, BUT my external FireZip (Archos FireWire Zip drive) is incredibly slow, no idea why.

[badidea]

I had a Syquest EZdrive (135MB) and unfortunately I was the only one among my friends who had one. A few months ago it ended in the trash!
I also ran a carracho server in 2002 - as Spheric said...better than hotline and without the assholes (except one guy who called me names because my FREE server was so slow)!

[OreoCookie]

When I was a student, I used Napster (the original version mind you) on my university network (up to 10 MBit/s, yeah!) which really expanded my horizon as far as music goes. I downloaded many, many songs, checked them out and deleted quite a few of them (even though I had a rather large 5 GB harddrive, it quickly filled up).

Since then, I've replaced most of the downloaded songs with legal copies (at least the ones I actually listen to).

I've never really downloaded games or apps, I've usually gotten them either for free or very little via my university or work (who have paid for those). I don't have a problem downloading stuff if there is no legal way to get it in Germany.

[badidea]

Originally Posted by OreoCookie 

When I was a student, I used Napster (the original version mind you) on my university network (up to 10 MBit/s, yeah!)

Oreo, you're in Munich, right? TU-München?
That's where I studied until 2000 and back then we often used the computer room next to the eastern bridge to download the demo version of Duke Nukem 3D (10MB...3sec instead of ~1h at home) and played via network for hours!

[shifuimam]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

It's absolutely awful.

I refuse to endorse it.

It has some perverse hybrid of Windows control buttons and a Mac window stuck in between two layers of screen rape, and even comes with Windows wizards to help make you feel stupid and incapable.

I haven't used the newer ones that combine with Photoshop Album, but older versions weren't bad at all:



It looks like from the screenshots I'm finding online that each subsequent version removes more and more features and capabilities...genius.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by angelmb 

I have both, my Yosemite G3 came with a Zip, and I still have the SuperDisk over the desk… I wasn't aware about the LS-240 version which could reformat a standard 1.44MB floppy to a whooping 32MB.

That's just 32MB of data that can disappear when you look at the floppy disk wrong.

[Phileas]

My first ever Mac had a 40MB drive.

[OreoCookie]

Originally Posted by badidea 

Oreo, you're in Munich, right? TU-München?
That's where I studied until 2000 and back then we often used the computer room next to the eastern bridge to download the demo version of Duke Nukem 3D (10MB...3sec instead of ~1h at home) and played via network for hours!

Yes, exactly.
Those were mostly computer scientists, they've played this for hours on these Sun Ultra 10s and up. Good times. Back then, having a 10 MBit connection was crazy! (We still had a 28.8k modem at home, hehe!)

So you've studied computer science there?

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

I haven't used the newer ones that combine with Photoshop Album, but older versions weren't bad at all:



It looks like from the screenshots I'm finding online that each subsequent version removes more and more features and capabilities...genius.

Actually, it looks pretty much like that now - which is horrifying, since I'm talking about a MACINTOSH application, and not the friggin' Windows version.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

Actually, it looks pretty much like that now - which is horrifying, since I'm talking about a MACINTOSH application, and not the friggin' Windows version.

Yup. 2 was the last good version.

Latest version:



No window resizing, so that's it - full screen or nowt.

[Big Mac]

Looks pretty. Pretty awful.

[OreoCookie]

Photoshop is rather ugly. Interface-wise, I very, very much prefer Pixelmator. In some instances, it's a bit `too much' for my taste (the fading in/out of palettes takes a tad too long).

[0157988944]

Photoshop Elements 4 wasn't bad. It was just 6 (they skipped 5) that they decided to go crap on the interface.

[Salty]

I think I had elements 2 for a while. But now that I've pirated the full version there's a few tools that I just don't wanna give up. I tried switching to Pixelmator but I use the dodge and burn tools waaaaay too much.

Anyway most of my recent photoshop work is for Church... so Adobe can forgive me... I'm doing God's work

[mattyb]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

I have never ever ever downloaded anything off any kind of file-sharing site. I don't even know what Bittorrent is.

Digital piracy isn't just file-sharing and Bittorrent. How much did you pay for SQL Server? Visual Studio? Did you pay for each and every copy of Windows that you have?

[Chuckit]

Stealing for Jesus. That's a new one.

[abbaZaba]

probably the only software I have paid for in a decade is Remote Buddy which I use on my mac mini media center in conjunction with a keyspan remote. that's like $60 total.