Hmmmm...the lure of the instant download! It cannot be resisted forever, not in my case anyway! There is downloadable magic appearing all over the web. I'm not sure it's a great idea since anyone with only the vaguest interest and a few quid in their Paypal account can get access to some fairly fundamental information but that's another story.
That quote came from a review that was recently posted here. I'm not having a go at the author or anything but I think that we as a magic community are becomng a little over sensitive to the issue of exposure.
The fact that there are magic shops both online and in the real world suggests that sooner or later a "lay" person will buy something from them. Surely that is the point of such establishments; they are not only there to supply the magic community but they are there to advertise magic to the lay community. If that wasn't part of their purpose then there would not be such a thing as the magic shop, more of a magic-back-ally.
Yes the issue of exposure is a serious one and I would not argue against that for a second but a shop selling magic, online or otherwise, is not exposure. Exposure is usually defined as revealing secrets in return for nothing. If somebody chooses to buy a magic trick whether it be a Marvin's Magic set or an Eddie Gibson gimmicked coin they are doing so out of interest and if that interest is vague so be it, they probably won't remember anyway!
Exposure and the legitamate purchasing of magical effects are two completely different things. If we're not careful we'll end up in the same situation as we saw a few years ago when the mob started bricking paediatricians' homes because they thought they were kiddie fiddlers.
That may be an extreme example but we're moving along the same lines.
