請支持 正版 Meffert's 齒輪魔方 ( Oskar Van 發明 ) - Meffert's 香港代理發言 !

katsmom

I cannot write my thoughts with google translate.  They come out funny so I apologize for the English and hope someone will translate for me (ahem-Tony, please)
i am first and foremost a collector of puzzles.  I would be a hypocrite to say I had no copy cubes.  I have hundreds if not thousands of them.  (yell if you will.  I don't care-I've been yelled at by many before )  

Oskar is indeed upset about this new development, but what can he do?  Meffert's is upset and is attempting to do something.

There are so many cubes that have no patent, or have an expired patent.  To me these are free game.  an example of which is the basic cube.  Yes, Rubik's has a copyright on the black body BOY color scheme, but the cube itself and the mechanism is free game.  Many of Meffert's older puzzles fall under this category.  Why do you think nothing is heard of copied megaminxes or pyraminxes.  They have reached their 'expiry date'.

The gear cube is patented and awaiting more patents.  For this particular puzzle, I find it reprehensible that the companies would copy it.  And yes, I have a copy.  Just by looking at it, you can tell the quality is poor.  It appears to be molded from an original without any thoughts to retooling and tolerances.  The pieces don't fit snuggly within each other, and they turn horribly.  Lock ups and pops are not uncommon.  If you waste your money on this US$8 piece of junk be aware that you are getting junk.  In the end it is cheaper to purchase the original from Meffert's if you want to play with it.  

As for Tony Fisher's cubes, he is just a simple working man. He cannot afford the high cost of patents.  He has respectfully asked people not to copy certain puzzles of his.  http://tonyfisherpuzzles.net/F%20Copying%20my%20puzzles.html I found it very interesting that Tony's cubes started showing up in ebay shops and online stores shortly after he opened his webpage.  Those who have been copying his ideas are not breaking any legal laws, but tread a very fine line morally.  Meffert's is attempting to get some small amount of Money for Tony and other builders who have been copied by these moral-less companies.  So yes, he is purchasing from them, but he isn't making money on the sales.  The real fact is he has purchased many and taken a loss.   


I know some may say that these are free game and China and the Western countries have different values, morals, and standards (I hear it from my students all the time) But there are some universal truths that cross cultures: do not murder, do not disrespect your parents, do not STEAL.  This is what these copy companies are doing.  It's pure and simple theft.  And I guess you could say they are disrespecting the parents (the original builders who had the creativity of thought to change the standard into something amazing)  And indeed they are murdering as well.  They are murdering the desire to build new designs, they are murdering the production of new puzzles.


My two cents worth.  take it as you will.  We have discussed this to death on twisty puzzles and have come to no clear conclusions.  It  would be nice if you all could here.  But from the looks of things, you stand here as we do there.

calvin_cube

Rox 也來了, 很高興 你也來 發表 意見 ~
李生, 你的說話 ... 太小孩子氣了....
跟你的年齡 作對比 ... 挺有趣 ^^

SMAZ

我只想告訴你, MEFFERT 這種做法, 只會鼓勵盜版的廠家, 再次生產未經受權的魔方,
FISHER'S CUBE 可以當正版放上MEFFERT網上售賣,
風火輪是否給盜版的廠家再一次的幻想, 盜版變正版,?
AXIS CUBE 又怎樣了?
MASTER MORPHIX?
把未經受權的FISHER'S CUBE 放上MEFFERT網上售賣,是錯誤的做法.
我很懷疑這種做法的動機,
令永俊在短時間內推出異形魔方的動力, 背後是什麼原因?
是否都在計劃等待原作者的妥協?

我只想說, 叫別人支持買正版的魔方, 必須要以身作則, 自己不要賣盜版魔方,
這樣才有說服力, 才有效果,
你也知道MEFFERT的香港代理, 一直都在售賣盜版的魔方吧,
為何MEFFERT可以接受他的代理一直都在售賣盜版的魔方.

[ 本帖最后由 smartoyshop 于 2010-10-13 17:34 编辑 ]

ZJY

谁能帮忙翻译一下81楼的英语？

SMAZ

對, 我是很小孩子氣的,
跟我的年齡 作對比,
只能說一句" 不可能吧"
這都是大家都知道的事情了,

之前還說沒有興趣和時間回覆的,
轉眼便改變主意了嗎?

你還未回答店舖裡,盜版魔方生意的問題呢?
要逃避回答嗎?

[ 本帖最后由 smartoyshop 于 2010-10-13 17:54 编辑 ]

katsmom

(I'm beginning to understand how you do this here )

I have said the same, but who am I?  A mere collector.  I have no say. Just my opinions.  Meffert says trying something is better than putting your head in the sand.  
It would be a perfect world if these companies didn't exist, but they do. It is up to buyers to be educated about what is real and what is not.  
And you know me SmaZ.  I have spent plenty on Tony Fisher's.  But I still have the copies.  should I hang my head in shame?

I wish I knew the answer to the problem.

katsmom

sorry for double post.  I don't know how to edit.

Axis cube is Adam's he has worked with Meffert's for many projects.  Yes, he asked for help with this too.

佛迹

有句话说，如果买得起正版，那还买正版干嘛，买正版至少可以很有Face地跟人说，我这是正版的。可是正版贵，我们买不起。要从行动上支持正版，那我只能玩23阶了，其它都买不起。所以，有个矛盾是，要么支持正版，要么不玩魔方。当然，那些有钱的绝不会在乎几个钱的，我们也想，很想买正版，可是对于我们来说，太贵了。为了我们的爱好，我们只能买盗版，虽然我们也想以行动支持正版。希望正版的能便宜一点买，当然只是个人观点，勿喷。

chuchudengren

(translation of Rox's words) 81楼Rox的一些简单翻译，有些省略：
我不愿用Google翻译来用汉语来写下我的想法，这会变的很滑稽。很抱歉只能用英语，希望谁能翻译一下。
我首先是，而且主要是，一个益智玩具收藏家。说我没有盗版显得很虚伪，我足有成百上千个。
Oskar对于这件事情确实很沮丧，但是他也无可奈何。Meffert也很沮丧，并试图做出努力。
很多魔方并没有专利，或者专利已经过期。对于我而言，那些魔方是可以自由生产的，比如说三阶魔方。诚然，鲁比克拥有配色方案的专利，但是魔方本身和采用的结构却可以自由使用。Meffert的许多过去的魔方就属于这部分。你何曾听说过盗版的五魔或者金字塔呢？他们的专利已经过期了。
齿轮魔方已经申请了专利，正在申请更多的专利。对于这个魔方而言，去盗版是因该受到谴责的。我也确实有一个盗版齿轮，它的质量之差是显而易见的，看起来是仅仅对于原版的翻模。零件之间并不很匹配，转动也很糟糕，甚至经常锁死或者飞棱。如果你浪费8美元去买这么一个垃圾，请记住你得到的仅仅是一个垃圾。如果你真正去玩的话去买meffert的原版反而更值得。
对于Tony Fisher的魔方，他仅仅是一个工匠，无法支付高额的专利的费用。他曾经很尊敬的请求大家不要去盗版他的魔方。但是我发现有意思的是正是他建立了自己的主页后他的魔方开始出现在ebay和其他购物网站上。盗版他的魔方并不是违法行为，但是却触及了道德的底线。Meffert尝试为这些魔方被“盗版”的设计者们得到一小笔费用补偿。诚然，meffert确实是购买的这些KO产品，但是meffert并不是冲着赚钱，实际上甚至有亏损。
我知道有些人会说这些并没有专利，中国和西方有着不同的价值观。但是有些价值观是放之四海而皆准的：不偷不杀，不能不尊重父母。但是这恰恰是这些盗版的公司在做的事情。这完完全全就是在盗窃，我想你们也会说他们是在不尊重父母（魔方的设计者）。而且也同样是在杀戮。他们扼杀的是别人创作新魔方的意愿，他们扼杀的新的魔方的诞生。
个人之见，仅供参考。我们在twisty puzzles上已经将这个问题讨论的底朝天还是没有得到确切的答案，如果你们可以得到那就太好了。但是就目前所见，你们这里和我们那的情形却也无甚差异。

I do not quite understand "Rubik's copyright on the black body BOY color scheme". I suppose BOY means blue orange and yellow, I could hardly find any other interpretations. However, does that indicate other magic cubes cannot be produced with such a color scheme?

"edit" is on the right bottom with "编辑" in Chinese and you could press ctrl+enter to submit.

[ 本帖最后由 chuchudengren 于 2010-10-13 18:24 编辑 ]

肥熊

有錢的話..誰會去買盜版..