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When you say "the end of scarcity", most of us think of unlimited energy and raw material. The OP is really just talking about information (which is significant

by latch 16y ago

When you say "the end of scarcity", most of us think of unlimited energy and raw material. The OP is really just talking about information (which is significant, but truly in a different league). This echoes the "Information wants to be free" mantra/movement/slogan/whatever. While this movement is quite old (relatively speaking) and widespread, I find that Wired is still one of the more on-the-ball publications with respect to this (they talk about it a lot, and generally cover it well).

sliverstorm 16y ago
Information wants to be free I have personally always thought that argument to be entirely BS. A piece of software can be considered information; it's just bits in order. Therefore, it should be free. Music can be considered information for the same reasons. It's a convenient argument, because it gets us all the things we want, for free! But EVERYTHING is information. YOU, YOU are just information, and so is that computer in front of you, and the chair under you. Are you also free (as in beer)? Information requires effort and/or investment to create, and personally I feel the "information wants to be free" folks like to simply wax over that to further their own interests.
- ThomPete 16y ago
  It's not that it should be free, it's that it will eventually be free. You seem to be looking at this from a kind of moral point of view, but "information wan't to be free" is not meant to be a value statement. It's meant to be an observation about information.
  - sliverstorm 16y ago
    If it's an observation, why is it pushed like an agenda and used like a justification?
    - ThomPete 16y ago
      I didn't know it was although you might be right that some people are confusing it. It's talking about what information itself wants to be not be (as if it has agency), not what people want information to be.
    - Travis 16y ago
      Any time any concept is reduced to a pithy sentence it will be appropriated by people to use as an agenda. Something about these types of clever sayings shortcuts our brains. People use that fact to take advantage.
- zizee 16y ago
  What are you talking about? When people say "information wants to be free" they are (obviously) not talking about physical objects. The idea that information wants to be free stems from the market principles of supply and demand. Price is determined by supply and demand. Digital information can be duplicated at almost zero cost, so there is a pressure on it to become cheaper and cheaper until free. The idea that information wants to be free is also contradicted by the idea that "Information is power" etc. The less people you can restrict information to the more it is worth. Also, timely information can be very valuable (like in insider trading) that information can have value (i.e. no free as in beer). But just because information can be duplicated infinitely, it doesn't mean that it will be duplicated infinitely, meaning that the value of the information will be determined by the costs of production and demand. Will this value of the information be enough to cover the costs? This will be the determining factor as to whether people can continue to make a living from producing information. On the flipside, the costs of making quality information are rapidly decreasing, so it should be getting easier and easier to make a living from information. In the end, I think that information will always have value. The key will be for the producers of that information to find a way to connect with people willing to pay for it.
- erez 16y ago
  As always, quoting the actual text helps (http://www.rogerclarke.com/II/IWtbF.html http://www.rogerclarke.com/II/IWtbF.html): "On the one hand information wants to be expensive, because it's so valuable. The right information in the right place just changes your life. On the other hand, information wants to be free, because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and lower all the time. So you have these two fighting against each other." Nothing to do with software or products.

by latch 16y ago

sliverstorm 16y ago

Information wants to be free I have personally always thought that argument to be entirely BS. A piece of software can be considered information; it's just bits in order. Therefore, it should be free. Music can be considered information for the same reasons. It's a convenient argument, because it gets us all the things we want, for free! But EVERYTHING is information. YOU, YOU are just information, and so is that computer in front of you, and the chair under you. Are you also free (as in beer)? Information requires effort and/or investment to create, and personally I feel the "information wants to be free" folks like to simply wax over that to further their own interests.

ThomPete 16y ago
It's not that it should be free, it's that it will eventually be free. You seem to be looking at this from a kind of moral point of view, but "information wan't to be free" is not meant to be a value statement. It's meant to be an observation about information.
- sliverstorm 16y ago
  If it's an observation, why is it pushed like an agenda and used like a justification?
  - ThomPete 16y ago
    I didn't know it was although you might be right that some people are confusing it. It's talking about what information itself wants to be not be (as if it has agency), not what people want information to be.
  - Travis 16y ago
    Any time any concept is reduced to a pithy sentence it will be appropriated by people to use as an agenda. Something about these types of clever sayings shortcuts our brains. People use that fact to take advantage.
zizee 16y ago
What are you talking about? When people say "information wants to be free" they are (obviously) not talking about physical objects. The idea that information wants to be free stems from the market principles of supply and demand. Price is determined by supply and demand. Digital information can be duplicated at almost zero cost, so there is a pressure on it to become cheaper and cheaper until free. The idea that information wants to be free is also contradicted by the idea that "Information is power" etc. The less people you can restrict information to the more it is worth. Also, timely information can be very valuable (like in insider trading) that information can have value (i.e. no free as in beer). But just because information can be duplicated infinitely, it doesn't mean that it will be duplicated infinitely, meaning that the value of the information will be determined by the costs of production and demand. Will this value of the information be enough to cover the costs? This will be the determining factor as to whether people can continue to make a living from producing information. On the flipside, the costs of making quality information are rapidly decreasing, so it should be getting easier and easier to make a living from information. In the end, I think that information will always have value. The key will be for the producers of that information to find a way to connect with people willing to pay for it.
erez 16y ago
As always, quoting the actual text helps (http://www.rogerclarke.com/II/IWtbF.html http://www.rogerclarke.com/II/IWtbF.html): "On the one hand information wants to be expensive, because it's so valuable. The right information in the right place just changes your life. On the other hand, information wants to be free, because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and lower all the time. So you have these two fighting against each other." Nothing to do with software or products.