Libertine

Surfers actually pay for rapidshare and sites like that, so they can download adult content without paying the people the content belongs to.

It's almost funny, when you think about it...

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Silly Guy

well if you compare the cost to what they should be paying...it does make sense

cashbot

Makes sense from the consumers' perspective... Any idiot could see that.

Libertine

The thing is, in my experience lowering prices on adult sites has never been very successful. It's always sold better marketed as an impulse buy than as a sensible investment - that is to say, using content as a unique selling point works much better than using price as a unique selling point. Price is merely the final push... you convince them the content is great, and finish it up with "...and it isn't even that expensive!".

On the face of it, something like Rapidshare would seem to be a sensible investment. I'm not too sure that's the only (or even main) reason it does so well, though.

I suspect that their strategy of forcing users to wait a certain time between free downloads might instead cause surfers who crave immediate satisfaction to make an impulse buy, rather than basing their purchase on the actual value of what is offered.

In fact, when you look at their cheapest option, it's actually more expensive than a trial to a typical adult site. 4.50 euro ($6) for 48 hours. Adult sites often that or less for 3-day trials, and many have more content than most surfers would download during the trial.

So, basically, Rapidshare doesn't just work because it's cheap. It actually works for the exact same reason that adult sites work: someone sees something, wants it now, and decides to get it now.

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Silly Guy

sure some very good points...

but I guess another buying impulse is the fact that they are free to download anything they like within that time frame

ie. they are not tied down to any niche or just one type of content


I am not sure...but I think there is a search feature once you sign up

so with that they have instant access to almost any type of content...be it porn, music or mainstream movies

cashbot

I'm glad I'm not as retarded as you, fuckstick

Libertine

Oh, you can already search without signing up, with sites like http://filesbot.com/

What I think, though, is that if they really were making an informed decision, they'd most likely go for torrents (eg. puretna.com - someone needs to ddos that site) or emule instead. Those are free, and have enough porn in enough genres to fill up pretty much anyone's hard drive. Plus, the typical torrent site has preview pics, descriptions, etc. - something Rapidshare and its siblings lack.

That's what makes me think people actually often join Rapidshare so they can get a specific (group of) file(s) quickly, and not just because it offers loads of content at a fairly low price.

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Libertine

Still cranky that I called you a surfer this afternoon?

Seriously, get a fucking life, wanker.

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Silly Guy

oh never knew of filebot...

fact is though that using torrents files can often take ages to download...


rapidshare again is very fast and pinpointed

Silly Guy

drive-by hater!

Libertine

The usefulness of P2P depends on connection, I suppose... the other day I had a 700 MB file in about 10 minutes using bittorrent, and I typically average at least half an MB a second.

But I can see how people with slower connections might prefer to simply download files from a single site. Still, that doesn't explain it entirely. With a little patience, people can easily use the various filehosting services to fill up their HD in no time.

Besides, while the filehosting services offer good download speeds, they don't offer a good way of finding specific files, and they don't have previews - unless you are getting the links from a board, but in that case it again seems rather likely that they're joining for a specific group of files they know is on there.

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Libertine

He's 16, broke, a virgin and obviously not the sharpest tool in the shed. It's only natural for him to be angry at the world

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