Re: When is an MP3 file like a lighthouse?

From: Lee Daniel Crocker (lee@piclab.com)
Date: Wed Oct 24 2001 - 17:14:59 MDT


On Wed, 24 Oct 2001, Robert J. Bradbury wrote:

> > Information wants to be downloaded because each additional
> > download creates new wealth; money doesn't care whose hands
> > it's in because that doesn't create wealth one way or the other.
>
> I think there are some problems with this. I get really annoyed
> when I download a program and it turns out not to do what I
> really wanted it to do. Its a waste of my time to explore
> the program and a waste of the net bandwidth to download it.

That's one of the things that will drive the new marketing
models for content. Consumers will pay for ways to find and
evaluate good content that matches their needs. If there
were a download site competing with the one you usually use
that you found had consistently accurate and useful reviews
and a good search interface, wouldn't you use it instead,
even if they had big ads, or charged a nickel per search?
And if that search-and-evaluate company got big enough to
have some money to invest, it would be good for them to pay
artists to create content that matches their demands, even if
they had no way to make the content exclusive to themselves.

> I'd also dispute the fact that "money doesn't care whose
> hands it is in because that doesn't create wealth one
> way or the other". There is a big difference in the
> wealth creation capacity of 1 cent in the hands of 200
> million people and $2 million in the hands of a single
> individual. There is also a big difference between
> $2 million in the my hands and $2 million in Madonna's
> hands (at least from an extropic perspective).

I agree with the analysis, but I'd pick a better example
if I were you. I think Madonna's done a lot to make the
world a more Extropic place (even if you're not fond of
the music).

--
Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lee/>
"All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past,
are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified
for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC



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