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Kali Yuga · 07-01-2009, 08:15 PM

Anderson has apparently posted a response:

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/...so-threatened/

"Free" has its role to play, but in general I have to side with Gladwell on this one.

I may be wrong, but Anderson's assumptions remind me of the people who travel to another country, buy a sarong for $1 that sells for $10 back home, gets dollar signs in their eyes, and 12 months later their import/export tchotchke store is already out of business. One specific aspect looks dirt cheap, and this blinds you to all the other costs involved with the business.

It might seem that digital production costs are nearly zero, but this is slightly absurd. Someone has to invest time to produce the content, edit the content, market the content, maintain the servers, and pay for the bandwidth. High-quality home music recording equipment costs a fraction of professional equipment, but you still need the expertise to use it (and use it well) -- not to mention the skills to book those shows, sell those tickets, design the posters and t-shirts and write press releases; these are not necessarily skills that a musician, particularly ones who need to work day jobs in order to put food on the table, will have or can develop. Same with movies; even a small film requires dozens of collaborators, lots of time and lots of money.

Some ventures will involve low enough overhead to be supported exclusively by advertising; but there is only so much advertising you can sell, especially without invading the product itself. I'd rather not have to see a banner ad on every third page of my e-books.

Then again, I'd be happy to see Mr Anderson put his money where his mouth is, and release all of his publications in e-book form for free.

07-01-2009, 08:15 PM	#8
Kali Yuga Professional Contrarian Posts: 2,045 Karma: 3289631 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: Kindle 4 No Touchie	Anderson has apparently posted a response: http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/...so-threatened/ "Free" has its role to play, but in general I have to side with Gladwell on this one. I may be wrong, but Anderson's assumptions remind me of the people who travel to another country, buy a sarong for $1 that sells for $10 back home, gets dollar signs in their eyes, and 12 months later their import/export tchotchke store is already out of business. One specific aspect looks dirt cheap, and this blinds you to all the other costs involved with the business. It might seem that digital production costs are nearly zero, but this is slightly absurd. Someone has to invest time to produce the content, edit the content, market the content, maintain the servers, and pay for the bandwidth. High-quality home music recording equipment costs a fraction of professional equipment, but you still need the expertise to use it (and use it well) -- not to mention the skills to book those shows, sell those tickets, design the posters and t-shirts and write press releases; these are not necessarily skills that a musician, particularly ones who need to work day jobs in order to put food on the table, will have or can develop. Same with movies; even a small film requires dozens of collaborators, lots of time and lots of money. Some ventures will involve low enough overhead to be supported exclusively by advertising; but there is only so much advertising you can sell, especially without invading the product itself. I'd rather not have to see a banner ad on every third page of my e-books. Then again, I'd be happy to see Mr Anderson put his money where his mouth is, and release all of his publications in e-book form for free.