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1. •  
     CommentAuthoryorko
   • CommentTimeJun 24th 2009

    (6217.1)
   as a creator and as a reader, i'm really excited about this. Looking forward to more info about Longbox.
2. • CommentAuthortcatsninfan
   • CommentTimeJun 24th 2009 edited

    (6217.2)
   @William Christensen
   
   I hope Avatar will give LongBox a good, long, serious look. Bringing your books to LongBox is meant to be as painless as possible, and something that Rantz stressed at the unveiling is that he isn't trying to create some turf war thing, like PC vs. Mac. The contracts aren't exclusive, so you could host your books on LongBox and any other service simultaneously (unless the other service IS exclusive, I suppose).
   
   Competition is great for everyone but I don't think anyone will benefit if the digital comic war goes on for years. Right now there are at least two competitors to LongBox, comicsXP and PullboxOnline, although it doesn't look like Pullbox has a comic reader included. Now, as I said, LongBox doesn't deal in exclusivity terms and that's all well and good, but what happens if these competitors do? You'll end up with Image going to one, IDW going with another, etc. And no one's going to want to use three or more services to read all the comics they want.
   
   I have this sneaking suspicion that Marvel and/or DC will come out with a similar product in the near future, especially in the case of Marvel. I can see the executives now saying, "Oh yeah, we made some mistakes with Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited but we've learned a lot from it, and those mistakes won't be repeated with this new service." And then they'll throw in some cliche business phrases like "bringing comics into the 21st century", "cutting edge", and "dominating the 'space'". And then they'll release something that sucks because they'll be following the money trail and not the consumer satisfaction trail. It'll have some godawful flaw that makes everyone hate it, like a high subscription/comic price, a comic reader that is too obtrusive or resource-intensive, or software that isn't user-intuitive. I like Marvel and DC, I really do, but I think there will be another day of reckoning for them, similar to what happened in the 90's.
   
   I'm a cynical person by nature but I am very very excited about LongBox. I believe in LongBox, Inc. Buttons and t-shirts forthcoming (not really).
3. •  
     CommentAuthorRantz
   • CommentTimeJun 24th 2009

    (6217.3)
   Rantz:
   
   Wait, is it a license for 3 at any given time, and not a machine copy limit?
   
   Chalk it up to the fact that I'm on vacation and a bit sun addled right now, but can you clarify your question a bit?
4. • CommentAuthortcatsninfan
   • CommentTimeJun 24th 2009 edited

    (6217.4)
   @Rantz
   
   I think he's asking whether it will be licensed to 3 machines and 3 machines only or if there are 3 "slots" that can be assigned to any 3 machines at the same time. I think iTunes has the former, so if you register it on your work laptop and then quit the company you have to call Apple and ask them to delete that record or whatever.
5. •  
     CommentAuthorWilliam Christensen
   • CommentTimeJun 24th 2009

    (6217.5)
   @tcatsninfan - I take a hard look at everything. There are a lot of business factors at play, several of which are private discussions, and I'm sure I'll sit down with Rantz again at SDCC. But I need to make sure I am making the right call not just for Avatar, but for our creators who put their faith in me. I just don't rush into things.
6. •  
     CommentAuthorRantz
   • CommentTimeJun 24th 2009

    (6217.6)
   @tcatsninfan - it's three 'slots', and you can de-auth a given machine/device from your 'primary' machine in case you do something like leave a company or throw your laptop off a roof. There's also a redundancy system so if your primary system goes down, you have recovery options without spending your day on the phone with Customer Support.
   
   William and I talked at NYCC, and as he noted, we will continue to have discussions. I expect every publisher to 'do right' by their creators, so his methodical approach, and efforts to make sure he does so, are appreciated by me.
7. •  
     CommentAuthorEddie Current
   • CommentTimeJun 24th 2009

    (6217.7)
   I am a filthy Linux user (ubuntu, in my case). Am I going to be able to use Longbox?
8. •  
     CommentAuthorRantz
   • CommentTimeJun 24th 2009

    (6217.8)
   RE: Linux. Possibly. It depends on the demand/feedback during the Beta. Doing the Linux build isn't difficult, and it's something we've planned for, but it comes down to whether or not the platform has enough demand/support to justify doing it as part of the 'launch deployment'. If we don't have a Linux version at launch, it's likely to happen during the first year.
9. • CommentAuthorTechnocratJT
   • CommentTimeJun 24th 2009

    (6217.9)

   it's three 'slots', and you can de-auth a given machine/device from your 'primary' machine in case you do something like leave a company or throw your laptop off a roof. There's also a redundancy system so if your primary system goes down, you have recovery options without spending your day on the phone with Customer Support.

   
   
   Well that works for me. 3 allowed systems at any given time (as opposed to 3 lifetime) is more then generous enough.
   
   Now we just need a color kindle....
10. •  
      CommentAuthorRichBarrett
    • CommentTimeJun 24th 2009

     (6217.10)
    @TechnocratJT Or a large iPod Touch ;)
11. •  
      CommentAuthorFinagle
    • CommentTimeJun 24th 2009 edited

     (6217.11)
    Any plans specifically for portable media options? iPhone, Windows Mobile, etc.
    
    Support for media center plugins (Xbox 360, Windows Media Center, Roku) would be nice as well.
    
    Aside from tech stuff, some sort of subscription like a CSA farmshare basket would be nice. I'd like to get a "Season Pass" for everything put out by Mr. Ellis, for instance, for some sort of flat fee that gets me everything he happens to put out in a given month, whether a little or a lot.
    ---
    
    Wishlist pipe dreams aside, I will say this reflects a lot of the stuff I've asked for in the various discussions about online comics on WC, and in all honesty may actually get me paying for stuff I currently torrent.
12. • CommentAuthortcatsninfan
    • CommentTimeJun 24th 2009

     (6217.12)
    @William Christensen
    
    I apologize if I sounded rude earlier. I meant absolutely no disrespect.
13. •  
      CommentAuthorEddie Current
    • CommentTimeJun 24th 2009

     (6217.13)
    Thanks, sir.
14. •  
      CommentAuthorWilliam Christensen
    • CommentTimeJun 25th 2009

     (6217.14)
    @tcatsninfan - Thanks man, I appreciate that.
15. • CommentAuthorTechnocratJT
    • CommentTimeJun 25th 2009 edited

     (6217.15)
    Honestly bottom line is anything that ensures comics reach the audience and all those involved can make a living is a good thing. Anything which allows the viability in those terms of books that would otherwise struggle is a very good thing.
    
    Past that is down to debate over form, preference and methodology of access. And none of those matter compared to the above. So yes, I hope this does very well indeed.
16. •  
      CommentAuthorJay Kay
    • CommentTimeJun 25th 2009

     (6217.16)
    One thing that I'd imagine would make or break the Longbox is, like what Stygmata mentioned, how compatible it is with portable devices. I'm not an expert on this stuff, but I'd think one of the key reasons that iTunes was so successful was that it has a great way to take your music with you with the iPod, and the great advantages of physical copies of stuff is the portability--to be able to take it with you when you're on the bus or on the shitter.
17. • CommentAuthorKieronGillen
    • CommentTimeJun 25th 2009

     (6217.17)

    But there won't be a third PHONOGRAM series without something like Longbox. And Gillen & McKelvie won't be the only ones in that boat.

    
    
    As Warren says. When we're in the situation we're in with a fairly well-discussed and critically acclaimed indie book, god knows how many other are.
    
    KG
18. • CommentAuthorMaC
    • CommentTimeJun 25th 2009

     (6217.18)
    I'm really curious about how the reader will be. In my opinion it should be a close to CD Display as possible, simple, easy to use, doesn't eat system resources.
    
    I see lots of potential that excites me here.
19. •  
      CommentAuthorTF
    • CommentTimeJun 25th 2009

     (6217.19)

    But there won't be a third PHONOGRAM series without something like Longbox. And Gillen & McKelvie won't be the only ones in that boat.
    
    
    
    As Warren says. When we're in the situation we're in with a fairly well-discussed and critically acclaimed indie book, god knows how many other are.
    
    KG

    
    
    
    Well..... fuck
20. • CommentAuthorJarreddo
    • CommentTimeJun 25th 2009

     (6217.20)
    I gotta say, I am a comics fan who has never, ever bought a single issue. I torrent new issues every week, because the thing is, I don't WANT single issues in paper form. They take me maybe 5-10 minutes to read through which just isn't worth 3-4 dollars to me, and then storing and sorting through all of them is a nightmare. This conflict very nearly kept me from ever getting into comics.
    
    I know there are a lot of people like me. And who knows how many people out there never got into comics for this reason? With LongBox, I might actually start buying some of my favorite series in a format other than TPB.