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Originally Posted by Dumas
Actually, one of Merriam Webster’s definitions for value is the monetary worth of something and I believe I used it correctly in that context.
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I thought you were using the term as cost is the price that the manufacturer has in producing the product and the value is what someone is willing to pay. That is the context of my comment. Cost is the R&D, QA, production, advertising and other associate costs of doing business but you seem to think that if it is available for download the cost is practically zero (approaching zero) which means its value is the same.
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You have chosen to use another definition of value, that of relative worth, utility, or importance. Hence, your usage and references are no longer economic, but of a philosophic nature.
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It is certainly economic since people do pay for software despite GNU. There is a commodity item that is driven by supply and demand like bread, gas, etc. Here the price of something is supply and demand oriented although the bottom price is based on overhead for the business. However there are plenty of unique items that are not based on supply and demand. Supply and demand assume that the one you can get down the street is just as good as the one that is priced higher. For software and eBooks that only applies to the dealer price which is their cost plus their markup. The dealer price is determined by the value of the product, that is the price the person or company sets on the product.
Value is the price a user who wants or needs a product is willing to pay for the product. Worth is what the owner of the product whether believes its value is.
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Perhaps in a philosophic sense, but not in the context of economics and the definition I have posted under.
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There are clearly two definitions of economics. One for commodities and one for unique items.
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This could be the eureka moment for you (and hopefully everyone else.)
1 – You have correctly asserted that a computer is worthless without software,
2 – Yet we can agree that computers are a scarce resource (an apparent economic contradiction),
3 – Hence, the reason computers have any value at all is because of software, a digital good in unlimited, non-infringing supply (of the Open Source variety.)
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This is where we disagree. The computers have value not because of free software. Computers have value because there is software that people can buy that will solve a problem or help them in some way. A source of free software can enhance the value of the hardware but is not necessary except for some who don't need the computer in the first place but want one for fun. Companies seldom use free software as they can't depend on it.
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The worth of software does not come from in and of itself or the discs and tapes it may reside on, but in its transformative ability to turn a scarce resource of little value into one of great value.
Dumas
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That is true. If there is nothing to run the software on then it has no value at all. Same with an eBook.
Dale