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As the Congresscrooks say in their speeches, I would like to revise and expand my remarks in #47 above.
The "Economics Of Abundance" force a particularly difficult kind of competition on the creators of new designs. Since this a <legal> competition, I need to point it out for clarity.
The public domain!
When a design enters the public domain, it becomes a legal competitor for new designs. And it costs nothing. This provides a further drag to charging the cost of new designs. Why buy a new design when an old, free design will do just as well? Why buy a new version of a Beethoven Symphony (or Britney Spears) when I can copy an 1957 LP version of the Beethoven Symphony (legally in Great Britain) for free? Harry Harrison or Mark Twain? Generic vs. new drugs? Why pay for new?
This is prevented in the "Economics Of Scarcity" world due to the saving of economy of scale in manufacturing. But if this ever goes away, the 21 year old designs (patent is only 20 years, remember) will become serious competitors for new designs.
This will slow down progress as the years go by. This may be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your viewpoint, but it is an <is> thing. I felt I needed to point this out. ( To quote Hemmingway, "You either do something new, or you're beating dead men at their own game". Not only that, but the dead men don't charge you either.)
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