[HN Gopher] NFTs and a Thousand True Fans
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       NFTs and a Thousand True Fans
        
       Author : parsecs
       Score  : 33 points
       Date   : 2021-02-27 18:37 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (a16z.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (a16z.com)
        
       | dgellow wrote:
       | It's only speculative, right? I'm happy artists get paid but I
       | still don't get why you would pay to be the "owner" of a digital
       | art piece. Anyone can see and download the art. Who cares who is
       | registered as the owner it if it's free to have an exact copy?
        
         | jcfrei wrote:
         | Then why do people buy paintings? They could just own a
         | photograph. Don't tell me it's because they appreciate the
         | subtle brush strokes or the smell of the oil paint. It's
         | because they want their name to be associated with a great
         | artist. Because in the halls of MoMA in New York it will say
         | painting by Jackson Pollock on permanent loan by <insert you
         | name foundation>.
        
           | paul_f wrote:
           | Comparing an original painting to a photograph of the
           | painting is the exact issue the OP is making. They are asking
           | why people would pay for a photo, when anyone could have the
           | same photo. There is no original, scarce painting to own.
           | Just all identical copies.
        
         | vmception wrote:
         | it is the same as any collectible, there is a market of people
         | that like originals, except now there is a greater assurance of
         | it being the original, primarily because of the earlier
         | block/timestamp compared to a duplicate NFT which would
         | therefore not hold its value, and the non-NFT versions of the
         | art has no transaction so they do not store value. This
         | assurance is accessible to any creator or collector.
         | 
         | a whole industry of appraisers and committees now gone. yay.
         | automatic ability to pay royalties to the artist upon resale
         | just built in, no contracts or enforcement of contracts
         | necessary. no trust involved for lower value works where
         | everyone is unfamiliar with contracts and lawyers. more
         | efficient market available to all.
        
         | redm wrote:
         | "A true fan is defined as a fan that will buy anything you
         | produce. These diehard fans will drive 200 miles to see you
         | sing; they will buy the hardback and paperback and audible
         | versions of your book; they will purchase your next figurine
         | sight unseen; they will pay for the "best-of" DVD version of
         | your free YouTube channel; they will come to your chef's table
         | once a month."
         | 
         | I think the point is, people are fans so they want to collect
         | and have a pride of ownership.
        
         | koonsolo wrote:
         | I think baseball cards is the best comparison. People pay this
         | much because it's official, it's a collectors item. You could
         | make a nice color copy, but it will not be the same, even if
         | the copy is hard to distinguish.
         | 
         | The world is moving to digital. Kids play with digital things
         | more than with physical. So how can you own a digital
         | collectors item? Best solution seems NFT.
        
         | jsemrau wrote:
         | Nothing says decentralizing finance like artificially
         | restricting the existence of digital object. Of course, this
         | statement is a bit smug, but while I caved in to the FOMO and
         | bought some Ada could before the Mary Hard Fork, I have yet a
         | real world use case for any of the coins.
         | 
         | If there would be a wallet filled with credits where I can gift
         | / tip creators for their work independent of their bank |
         | location | currency, this would be an amazing use case.
        
       | hi5eyes wrote:
       | cryptokitties 2.0 right?
        
         | sroussey wrote:
         | Same team.
        
         | Animats wrote:
         | Right. But with more mainstream PR. See "NBA Top Shot".
         | 
         | The people selling NFTs talk a lot about buyers "owning"
         | something. From the article:
         | 
         |  _The logic of blockchains is once you purchase an NFT it is
         | yours to fully control, just like when you buy books or
         | sneakers in the real world. There are and will continue to be
         | NFT platforms and marketplaces, but they will be constrained in
         | what they can charge because blockchain-based ownership shifts
         | the power back to creators and users -- you can shop around and
         | force the marketplace to earn its fees._
         | 
         | Some don't mean it.
         | 
         | From the TOS for Genies:
         | 
         |  _Digital Goods are not purchased by you, but rather are
         | licensed to you on a limited, personal, nontransferable, non-
         | sublicensable, revocable basis, solely for your non-commercial
         | use in connection with your use of the Services. You may not
         | transfer Digital Goods to any other user of the Services or any
         | other third party, except where the Services expressly
         | authorize you do to so. For example, you may transfer your
         | Digital Goods to other users of the Services through Genies'
         | Digital Goods re-sale marketplace on the Services. You
         | acknowledge and agree that Genies may manage, control, change,
         | or eliminate Digital Goods at any time. ... Digital Goods and
         | Virtual Currency do not constitute personal property, nor do
         | they have any value outside of the Services. Virtual Currency
         | cannot be sold, traded, transferred, or exchanged for cash._
         | 
         | "Revocable". Genie giveth, and Genie taketh away. Plus, you can
         | only transfer ownership through them, not via some blockchain
         | they don't control.
         | 
         | Art Blocks is very funny. This is an Art Block.[1] Current
         | price, US$223. It's not unique; there are 2000 copies for sale.
         | 
         | There's a lot of sucker bait for sale in this space.
         | 
         | [1] https://www.artblocks.io/token/16000118
        
       | sschueller wrote:
       | I think I am experiencing FOMO with this NFT thing but no matter
       | how much I look at it I have no interest what so ever in any of
       | these. Very odd feeling...
        
         | user-the-name wrote:
         | It's a scam. It's _always_ a scam when it comes to crypto.
        
           | bluescrn wrote:
           | And if it's not a scam, it's gambling
        
             | ketamine__ wrote:
             | And if it's not gambling, it's investing.
        
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       (page generated 2021-02-27 23:01 UTC)