Here in France, people use debit/credit cards to buy EVERYTHING.
Some merchants discourage this by insisting on a 15 euro minimum charge. But by and large cards are used more often than cash. In restaurants it is common to split the payment of the meal and have each person contribute via a card.
It's been that way for years, although the frequency of card use is not as overwhelming as in the US.
At the supermarket, if I buy a bottle of water (0,18) I pay with a credit card. The majority of people do the same thing.
Caveat: many people, especially free-lancers, are paid in cash to avoid paying taxes on part of their income. Those people pay cash for everything. The give-away is the use of big bills (50, 100 euro bills) for small purchases.
Here in the Netherlands people are encouraged to use debit cards even for small amounts. Sometimes even with a small discount. The largest supermarket chain has way more "pin only" cashiers than pin and cash. It's cheaper and saver to process.
Yeah, but on the other hand it's hard to find a place where you can pay by credit card, even the large super market chains don't accept them. Although almost no one here uses them because are debit card system works very well.
I see a lot of talk in this discussion about debit cards. I currently have only a debit card through my bank with my checking account, however, always run it as a visa and NEVER run it as a debit card. A lot of times, for small purchases, I don't have to sign, so it's quicker then running it as debit since I'd have to enter my pin. I don't know why I never run it as debit. Something about entering my pin in line at a store with people around?
Spent a summer in Paris. Still chastened by a Monoprix cashier not being able to take my card for whatever reason, and a woman in line behind me telling me it's "not like America."
Also enjoyed the spectacle of tobacconists not knowing to swipe my less-secure magnetic strip, looking for my smart card chip.
In the US charging a minimum for card transactions is usually a violation of your contract with Visa/Mastercard, and possibly a violation of the law in 10 states [1]. Are there similar contracts or laws in France?
That's about checkout fees, not minimum charge amounts. Minimum charge amounts used to be forbidden by basically every merchant agreement, but thanks to Dodd-Frank and a lot of retailer lobbying, such contact terms are now illegal. Card issuers must allow a restriction on charge amounts (no more than $10 IIRC) if the retailer so desires.
Here in Sweden you're not allowed to charge any sort of additional surcharge, but you are allowed to simply refuse accepting payment with Visa/Mastercard for purchases under a certain amount.
I would add that often it is effective to write a reply immediately (ie get it out of your headspace)...but save it in your drafts folder, and send it only the next morning.
This way you avoid much of the 'email ping pong' which is a real time-sink.
It's even more efficient to wait until the next day to write the reply, since you might not need to reply at all. A large percentage of the people who ask me questions at work manage to figure out the answer for themselves if I don't reply for a couple of hours (and they might even learn something by finding the answer on their own).
I can not upvote this enough.
I've met so many artists who are passionate about their work.
But lack of organization, and lack of awareness of their daily inefficiencies stop them from succeeding.
Comparing productivity porn (PP) to fast food is not very helpful.
It would be more accurate to compare PP to reading about nutrition...then not following the advice one reads, despite being well informed.
Of course it's easier to do things when you are motivated for a specific, deadline-based project. But there are grey areas in life, and "dips". PP is helpful for those. Techniques learned can lead to positive action.
It sounds to me like cfinke made a poor choice when acquiring a used instrument, then extrapolated that to 'all old instruments are bad/can't properly hold pitch'. (/exaggeration).
cfinke should've just gotten someone who knows about pianos to help him/her choose a good one, the way you might with a used car (although the choice is more subtle and less statistics-based).
As a counter example, I practice every day for hours on a baby grand piano from the 1930's which is very sturdy, with a beautiful tone. It was sitting unused (and untuned!) for decades in an old woman's house.
It was purchased for 1,000 euros at an auction, one of only two bidders.
I had it tuned by someone: it still sounded problematic, but good for practicing. I had a different tuner come and he made it sound incredibly good after a single tuning.
So the technician makes a huge difference too.
Piano restoration is fascinating, but engineers tend to underestimate how important trained hearing is in in order to improve the sound.
(rather than just being able to make a piano function properly on a mechanical level).
It sounds to me like cfinke made a poor choice when acquiring a used instrument then extrapolated that to 'all old instruments are bad/can't properly hold pitch'.
This information came to me via my father (a church musician, organist, and pianist for 40 years) and a number of piano tuners in the area that I talked to about getting the piano back in playing condition. I'm familiar with musical instruments and wouldn't claim that all old instruments are bad.
cfinke should've just gotten someone who knows about pianos to help him/her choose a good one
When we did eventually purchase a piano, we talked to the right people and made an informed decision. In the story I shared, the price (free) was more important than the condition.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Your metaphor is specious.
(Sorry if that sounds harsh, it is intended more to be just a firm statement).
The complexity of the piano sound is very, very difficult to duplicate, although we've been trying for decades.
There is no question that electric pianos are more practical for certain situations (country houses in climates with high humidity, for example).
But those are exceptions where practical concerns outweigh aesthetics (like watching a DVD on your laptop on the train).
A fine, hand-made acoustic piano has no serious contenders at the moment, from the viewpoint of both the musician, and the sophisticated listener.
One could argue that fine, hand-made instruments are becoming more rare because they are more expensive to produce and the market has shrunk, but that is a different argument.
A fine film camera has no serious contenders at the moment, from the viewpoint of both the photographers, and the sophisticated viewer
Some professional photographers said basically the same thing on film vs digital cameras a decade ago. See what do we have now. I can even predict that in ten years Steinway will bankrupt like what Kodak did.
The complexity of the piano sound is very, very difficult to duplicate, although we've been trying for decades.
As a programmer, I especially disagree with this point. The challenges digital pianos face right now is the key-touching not the sound itself.
Funny, when I read your 3rd paragraph, that made me think of the danger of putting too much faith in doctors.
Doctors get really peeved at people who research online and self-diagnose. On the other hand no-one cares about your health as much as you do, and no-one has access to as much information about what the root causes of malady could be.
Although Christopher Hitchens hated the expression 'X is battling with cancer', the phrase implies a personal engagement (as opposed to delegating) which can indeed make all the difference in the world.
Here's a description I like: you know more about your own body than your doctor does, but your doctor knows more about bodies in general than you do, so you have to work together.
That's well said, as far as it goes, but I wouldn't leave out the point about different incentives and levels of investment in the outcome for the two parties. (The pithy, cynical versions: "First, let them get sick" (Seth Roberts) and the life/dinner principle (Dawkins and Krebs).)
> Doctors get really peeved at people who research online and self-diagnose
Good doctors encourage patients to understand their condition. Let's not conflate that with exasperation over people who have a week old cough that they've decided is lung cancer because they've spent too much time on wrongdiagnosis.com.
You are completely right about the "wrongdiagnosis.com" conclusion. Be aware of your health, and the general statistical chance of various diseases (heart/diabetes/alzheimers etc.). Also get a second or third opinion from other reputable doctors if you disagree. The chances of them all being wrong is very small.
Those examples you hear of people going to "10 doctors who all say they're fine when they in fact have a rare disease" are, by definition, insanely rare.
It seems to me that one of the reasons CDBaby was/is so successful is because its primary customers are musicians, rather than consumers of music.
Strictly speaking CDBaby sells to both categories (it sells a service to musicians, and CDs to customers).
But to me, as a professional musician, it seems that people buy less music in product form now. Therefore the real customers for music-based products are...the musicians themselves.
There are more musicians than ever before. All are competing against one another.
As a result, they are willing to spend their disposable income on promotions, marketing.
Providing a service like CDBaby's was a brilliant way of tapping into that emerging market.
What made it disruptive was: the price-point, the musician-friendly ethos, the dependability and speed of the customer service.
As a musician/entrepreneur, it seems to me that very few startups realize that they may be more successful asking musicians to pay for something than finding 'customers' for their 'products' in the old fashioned (read: recording industry) mold.
Of course spinning the story to sound musician friendly is delicate...and essential.
Do you see other opportunities for charging the growing contingent of musicians for a service that is worthwhile?
One of the conclusions one could draw from your comment is that the wrong kind of people (professionals) have been the ones involved in developing musicians' careers. ie, lawyers, corporate marketing-type people, etc.
As a professional musician I think this is correct.
The biggest challenge that I face is in my career (besides the creative challenges of creating compelling music) is this: there are very few smart, talented people who have an initiative to help me develop my career AND the skills to do so.
My current annual income is X, derived primarily from concerts.
If I had the right people helping me this could easily become 6X, and I would gladly pay my team of part-time
helpers a substantial percentage of equity to make it happen (rather do more than less, bigger pie to split).
But chances are the people with the talent to make that happen would rather do other things that will:
- make more money
- will be more fulfilling than, say, cold calling venues or other less-than-edifying things that, ultimately, make or break a career.
When I read about the idea Derek Sivers had to get people to specialize in 'Muck-Work' I got really excited.
If someone created an oDesk for musician's specialized helpers that were good at a myriad of very limited, but important tasks, they could make a pile of money.
It's easier said than done. I think Derek realized this and that's why we're still waiting for Muck Work to launch...
Does this Muck Work require talking to you/other musicians in person?
I'm wondering if this business opportunity requires a physical encounter or could be done remotely. I actually would love to support musicians and other artists/talented people by doing their Muck Work. One of the problems I've encountered informally is that there are major trust issues! My job requires them to trust me and building that trust is not easy, even in person, since there are so many sleazy MBA fraudsters out there.
Fraudsters specialize in getting people to trust them. Honest helpers, however, specialize in helping. I find that the fraudsters are accorded more trust than me, even though I don't have a scammy bone in my body.
I find it highly rewarding to help others focus on and develop their talents by moving the furniture out of their way. I actually just love seeing artists express themselves and so that motivates me to do their Muck Work. (great word for it by the way)
The way I understand it, 'Muck Work' was meant to be a go-to place for people specialized in all the things musicians would like to outsource. To my knowledge, it never launched (Hey Derek: am I wrong?)
Regarding trust issues, that is an excellent point. It is ironic that you would like to help, but can't for lack of trust.
The easiest way to overcome that is to make small promises, then keep them/over-deliver.
Most people who try to help musicians have good intentions, but are not actually effective. They make promises, then fail to deliver, leading to disappontment for all.
My two cents: a person who would like to help should just identify an area in which they have real experience, and focus on that, insted of 'dabbling'.
For example, I have professional photographers, sound engineers, designers who essentially donate their time, or work at a huge discount, as a way of supporting my work. I find that VERY helpful.
As a counter-example, I've had people offer to help cold-call potential clients, but these people have no experience cold-calling, so it has been a big waste of time.
oDesk has been infinitely more helpful in a matter of months than any of the 4-5 people in 1st world countries that I've had try to help over the years (which led, in turn, to me being extremely cautious about help).
Some merchants discourage this by insisting on a 15 euro minimum charge. But by and large cards are used more often than cash. In restaurants it is common to split the payment of the meal and have each person contribute via a card.
It's been that way for years, although the frequency of card use is not as overwhelming as in the US.
At the supermarket, if I buy a bottle of water (0,18) I pay with a credit card. The majority of people do the same thing.
Caveat: many people, especially free-lancers, are paid in cash to avoid paying taxes on part of their income. Those people pay cash for everything. The give-away is the use of big bills (50, 100 euro bills) for small purchases.