This section presents a discussion of the two approaches
describing what is good and bad about each.
COLLECTION CENTRIC
advantages
EASY TO MAINTAIN - Collections are fixed, finite and
well defined in terms of number of files, file names and sizes. We even know how much disk
space the final completed collection will require. They are easily categorized and
organized. All scan collecting software is based on the collection-centric approach.
EASY TO TRADE - Trading involves requests for specific
files of specific sizes PERIOD. Collection-centric traders rarely, if ever, download the
same file twice.
CLOSURE - Collections can be COMPLETED. A sense of
achievement can be felt by the collector (before moving on to the next collection.).
ENJOY THE SAME IMAGE FROM A DIFFERENT COLLECTIONS - Yes,
the same photo's appear across different collection series'. It is interesting to see how
the exact same picture is treated by different scanners. (Although I have to add that I
can only tolerate so much of this overlap)
COLLECTION CENTRIC
disadvantages
MUST MANAGE COLLECTION USING SOFTWARE - It is IMPOSSIBLE
to complete collections without the use of a collection manager (I use COLVER - small
& fast).
HARD TO CLOSE - Many collections are LARGE. They consist
of HUNDREDS of files. Persistence and patience is required to fill collections.
MAY HAVE TO ACQUIRE SCANS YOU DON'T LIKE - Although I
never thought that I would NOT like a picture of a 22 year old woman in some stage of
undress, I must admit that some scans do nothing for me. I download the file because I
need it for the collection. Collecting this way can, at times, seem much more mechanical
than model-centric collecting.
REQUIRES LOTS OF DISK SPACE - Completed collections are
HUGE and gobble up MEGABYTES of hard disk space.
MODEL CENTRIC
advantages
EASY TO START - Just perform an Internet search (Alta
Vista, etc.) on the name of your favorite model and you're in business. You will soon have
MANY images of your model. There are also DOZENS of model specific link pages that can
serve as a launching point for your collecting.
MANY NEWSGROUPS ARE DOMINATED BY MODEL-CENTRIC
COLLECTORS - Most requests for scans in newsgroups like alt.mag.playboy or
alt.binaries.scanmaster are for specific models (i.e. "PLEASE POST
ALL BARBARA MOORE"). If you ask, you WILL get the scans you want.
PURE ENJOYMENT - No official file names, no CRC checks,
no file sizes to check, just pure worship (or whatever else you might want to do).
MODEL CENTRIC
disadvantages
SAME IMAGE, DIFFERENT NAME - It is VERY COMMON to
download the SAME IMAGE many times because it has been renamed or resized.
AMBIGUOUS - Requests on newsgroups by model-centric
collectors are hard to fill by collectors because It is never known what scans are
actually needed.
HARD TO ORGANIZE AND MAINTAIN COLLECTION - Since
Model-centric collecting involves acquiring scans from many different collections, all
scans must be manually renamed in order for the collector to properly organize the
collection (YIKES! what tedium).
NOTE: This item has caused a some confusion with
collectors who have taken me to task for apparently advocating the renaming of scans from
the original netscanner assigned name. THIS IS NOT WHAT I AM SAYING HERE!
What I am saying is that it is VERY COMMON to encounter
scans of models that have ALREADY been renamed as part of another's collection. Since the
damage has already been done I see no problem with renaming the scan to fit a your
collection naming convention. In addition, many model based collectors do not know nor
care what the actual name of the scan is or was.
I would reccommend that if a collector knows that the
scan has the actual assigned name, then DO NOT RENAME it. Otherwise it's OKAY.
HARD TO TRADE - It is virtually impossible to trade with
another model-centric collector and not have overlap. For example; Barbara Moore file
BMOORE01.JPG in his collections will always be different than your BMORRE01.JPG. In order
to trade, you must rely on thumbnail index files then rename files (what a pain).
NO CLOSURE - With new scan collections appearing all the
time, it is impossible to achieve closure. Your collection will NEVER be complete. There
will always be another scan of Barbara Moore that you don't have. (I want the one of her
phone number)
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