Quote:
Originally Posted by Snake Doctor
The computer and typewriter aren't good analogies, which is why I didn't use that analogy.
I used an analogy of AT&T getting as much as $1 per minute for long distance calls in the past, and today people being able to make long distance calls for free. But AT&T's market cap and yearly profits are much higher today than they were back then, because they were willing to CHANGE with the times.
That's as close to a perfect analogy as there is, you just don't want to accept it. Or you say you "accept it" but you think that it's bad.
So is it bad that long distance calls don't cost $1 per minute anymore? Is it bad that banks give out free checking accounts now instead of charging $10 per month for them?
You're standing so close to the tapestry that you can only see a few strands of thread. I'd like to invite you to step back and see the whole picture.  |
Just to be clear, this is just a friendly discussion, I don't want you to think I'm trying to attack you or anything and I respect your arguments.
But as far as "accepting" it, yes I totally do and that doesn't mean I'm whining. I can say something is a bad thing and still accept it. I feel that war is a bad thing, but I still accept it as a reality. I also have defense stocks, so I can profit from it as well. Even though I think it's bad in the long run.
Same with this mad dash towards free. It's a bad thing in the long run because like I said, it causes the economy to get smaller, not larger. The examples you made in your first post leave out a critical point which actually proves my point. Yes, the blacksmith was put out of work by the auto industry, but the auto industry was hundreds of times larger than the industry it replaced, in this case the horse and carriage industry.
This is the total opposite of what is happening in this push towards free. Large industries are being replaced by tiny ones with a fraction of the value. How is that good?
As for the ATT example, the cost of long distance came down because ATT was serving pictures and videos along the same lines that just carried voice before. ATT didn't just start giving away nearly free phone service so it could make a fraction of the money it did by offering some other service instead.
Just like with the PC industry, the cost of PC parts came down but the industry itself became larger and larger. In the free economy, industries get smaller and smaller and that's the problem I have. I guess I'm just not wise enough to see how shrinking industries is good for everybody and creates opportunity and wealth. But I guess we'll all find out soon enough.
But I don't want you to think I'm one of these guys crying for the old days. I got into adult when tube sites were pretty much at their peak so I don't really know any other market environment (as far as adult goes). I've been growing pretty much since day one so I have yet to see downturn due to free content, so I don't have a grudge a personnel vendetta against free.