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I am not sure why the audio cd analogy doesn't hold. Quoting the original post: "Software ISN'T a t-shirt. A t-shirt needs cotton. That cotton must be dyed, wo

I am not sure why the audio cd analogy doesn't hold. Quoting the original post: "Software ISN'T a t-shirt. A t-shirt needs cotton. That cotton must be dyed, woven, sewn, printed, packaged, shipped. Software ISN'T a meal. A meal has ingredients, and the more you spend on them, the better, and that goes double for your chef's salary. People understand where their money is going. People are just fine with paying through the nose when they get their money's worth. But no one likes to feel like they have been taken to the cleaners." Looking up on Google, I can get 500 audio cds for around 185$ (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=audio+cd+manufacturing+cost&aq=f&aql=&aqi=&oq= http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=audio...), per CD cost is 37 cents. Do you think that I should be able to buy the latest album of Backstreet Boys for 37 cents? Where do you account for thousands of dollars spent on recording the album? What about paying the artists? ....you know the 'fixed costs'. We still happily pay 9$ for an audio cd because it gives us pleasure which is worth more than 9$. As he says, 'getting money's worth'. Tell me again, how is software any different? You buy the software ONLY IF you think software gives you more value than it costs you to acquire it.

randallsquared 17y ago
I didn't say the analogy didn't hold, but that if it held, it didn't mean the argument was wrong. Separately, I do think the argument is wrong, because it's based on the labor theory of value, which has been shown wrong.
doronba 17y ago
What about long dead artists? what about recordings done many years ago, where the covering of recording prices has long been achieved Software, like most intellectual property is a Non-rivalrous good. Nothing in software design prevents simultaneous consumption, indeed, we would not have any website if that was the case. A T-shirt or a Meal is a Rivalrous good, my consumption of the meal prevents your ability to eat it. The law affords protection to non rival goods be enacting author rights, exclusivity for a period of time, copyright etc... historically the limits ware set to release non rival good to the public for its general use. Software companies, entertainment companies etc.. seek to milk those rights to no end, it will be an interesting case to see what an early mandatory release to public domain will have on piracy as a whole

randallsquared 17y ago

I didn't say the analogy didn't hold, but that if it held, it didn't mean the argument was wrong. Separately, I do think the argument is wrong, because it's based on the labor theory of value, which has been shown wrong.

doronba 17y ago

What about long dead artists? what about recordings done many years ago, where the covering of recording prices has long been achieved Software, like most intellectual property is a Non-rivalrous good. Nothing in software design prevents simultaneous consumption, indeed, we would not have any website if that was the case. A T-shirt or a Meal is a Rivalrous good, my consumption of the meal prevents your ability to eat it. The law affords protection to non rival goods be enacting author rights, exclusivity for a period of time, copyright etc... historically the limits ware set to release non rival good to the public for its general use. Software companies, entertainment companies etc.. seek to milk those rights to no end, it will be an interesting case to see what an early mandatory release to public domain will have on piracy as a whole