I'm passing this along from Hayek-L because it intersects with technology
concerns with its coverage of the idea of lock in -- where market agents
have to make suboptimal choices because of earlier choices made on the
market. An alleged example of lock in is how VHS beat out BetaMax. Another
example, in fact the founding one is the how the QWERTY keyboard came to
dominate the keyboard market and continues to do so today. This also links
in with path dependence and network externalities.
Lewin argues that these examples of lock in are questionable -- as is the
economic model behind them. See his essay at the link below for his
particular reasoning in this matter. (Except for Michael Lorrey. For him,
just read the abstract and accept or reject the ideas based solely on
that.:)
Cheers!
Daniel Ust
http://uweb.superlink.net/neptune/
"The Many Births of Free Verse" is now online at:
http://uweb.superlink.net/neptune/FreeVers.html
On-line Seminar -- the Hayek-L Email List
Peter Lewin on his essay "The Market Process and
the Economics of QWERTY: Two Views" _Review of Austrian
Economics_, 14 (1), March 2001, pp. 65-96.
July 14 - July 25, 2001
hosted by http://www.hayekcenter.org
Peter Lewin will be hosting a seminar
on his recent essay "The Market Process
and the Economics of QWERTY: Two Views"
between Saturday, July 14 and Wednesday,
July 25, on the Hayek-L email list:
http://www.hayekcenter.org/hayek-l/hayek-l.html
Peter Lewin's essay "The Market Process and
the Economics of QWERTY: Two Views" is available
on the web in PDF format at:
http://www.utdallas.edu/~plewin/QWERTY%20condensed.pdf
PDF documents can be read with the Adobe Acrobat Reader,
which is available for download free on the internet at:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
Forthcoming:
_The Economics of QWERTY: History, Theory and Policy,
Essays by Stan J. Liebowitz and Stephen E. Margolis_,
Edited with an Introduction and Conclusion by Peter Lewin
(New York: New York University Press; and London: Palgrave
(formerly Macmillan, 2001)).
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Market Process and the
Economics of QWERTY, on the web in PDF format at:
http://www.utdallas.edu/~plewin/chapteronerevisionpdf-prep.pdf
Chapter 11: The Current State of the Debate Involving
the Economics of QWERTY, on the web in PDF format at:
http://www.utdallas.edu/~plewin/chapterelevenrevisionpdf-prep.pdf
_Review of Austrian Economics_, 14 (1), March 2001, pp. 65-96.
Peter Lewin is Senior Lecturer at the School of Management,
University of Texas at Dallas. He is the author of _Capital
in Disequilibrium: the role of capital in a changing world_,
available at discount on the web from Laissez Faire Books,
http://www.laissezfairebooks.com/product.cfm?op=view&pid=EC8209
Peter Lewin's email address is:
Lewin's web page, with many of his publications available
on the internet, is at:
http://www.utdallas.edu/~plewin/
Information on the Hayek-L email list, along with information
on past Hayek-L seminars can be found at the Hayek-L email
list web page, on the web at:
http://www.hayekcenter.org/hayek-l/hayek-l.html
Those who wish to participate in the seminar may subscribe to
the Hayek-L email list thru the Hayek-L web site, or by sending
the message:
subscribe Hayek-L <yourfirstname> <yourlastname>
to: LISTSERV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
If you have any questions about the Hayek-L list or
the Lewin seminar, please send a message directly to:
Greg Ransom
Hayek-L list host
The Hayek-L list & the Hayek Center are
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