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See the major difference there is that engineers have recognized this and built a moat around their inventions. You don't just provide some bytes that run on s

See the major difference there is that engineers have recognized this and built a moat around their inventions. You don't just provide some bytes that run on someone's computer, you provide a service that can't be duplicated. Now ask yourself why it is that engineers adjusted but media has not. What are their motivations?

reinhardt 15y ago
Maybe because only engineers have the luxury of providing a service that can't be duplicated? I have trouble imagining viable SaaS equivalents for media. What would a, say, Books-as-a-Service look like?
- onemoreact 15y ago
  You can get 1 free Kindle download a month with Amazon prime. However, I think Porn is leading the way on that one. There are plenty of sites that give you access to a growing collection of stories for a monthly price, and one that allows free access to it's collection but charges for a better search and bookmarking system. Which I guess boils down to either the patronage system, where you can sponsors people to write (ex: epic poetry) or the organizational system where you can distribute free content and then give kickback to the most popular authors like many blogging systems do. PS: Batoto.com is an odd mix as it returns money to people who translate works but not the original authors. Sort of like a pirates auction house. The advantage for users being a nice interface and rapid updates.
  - icebraining 15y ago
    Except now the patronage system can be easily distributed instead of relying on rich people. I doubt it'll ever fund an "Avatar", but 2.9 million dollars is nothing to sneeze at: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/66710809/double-fine-adventure/ http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/66710809/double-fine-adv...
- pessimizer 15y ago
  I'm being very radical here, but the thought of the only books being published being by people who actually want to be read rather than waant to be rich is not a problem for me. For craftsmen whose primary goal isn't to communicate or entertain, I'd suggest patrons. I'd certainly sponsor about 1/50 of a writer spread across a curated pool. I'd probably sponsor about 1/200 of a curator. They wouldn't have to even send me the books, I'd just buy them from the printer with the best quality to cost ratio.
- vacri 15y ago
  Music-as-a-Service has been around as long as music.
waterlesscloud 15y ago
I look forward to all the source code and databases of the world to be made freely available to everyone. Of course engineers rely on intellectual property as much as anyone does.
- icebraining 15y ago
  IP here means "IP laws". Access to the source is a completely different issue. You don't need IP laws to protect your source: just don't distribute it.
  - waterlesscloud 15y ago
    So if someone did get access to your source and data, by whatever means, it'd be fine to spread it at will? And for that matter, why should there be information security laws if there's no intellectual property?
    - icebraining 15y ago
      So if someone did get access to your source and data, by whatever means, it'd be fine to spread it at will? Not if they're bound by contract OR if they conspired with someone who was. In other cases, yes. But what we think of whether it's "fine" or not is irrelevant: it'll happen anyway (try looking for Norton source code on TPB). What it matters is whether we want to fund laws to fight windmills. And for that matter, why should there be information security laws if there's no intellectual property? There are many laws under that "banner". What laws do you mean? If you mean Data Protection, those are essentially mandatory contract terms. Regardless of whether they should exist or not, they're very different, because you're only bound by them if you enter in a contract (implied or not) with the person or company providing you with the data. Whether that data is "property" or not is irrelevant.
  - mendocino 15y ago
    So it is OK for your employees (that you share your code and data with) to distribute it among third parties as they please?

reinhardt 15y ago

Maybe because only engineers have the luxury of providing a service that can't be duplicated? I have trouble imagining viable SaaS equivalents for media. What would a, say, Books-as-a-Service look like?

onemoreact 15y ago
You can get 1 free Kindle download a month with Amazon prime. However, I think Porn is leading the way on that one. There are plenty of sites that give you access to a growing collection of stories for a monthly price, and one that allows free access to it's collection but charges for a better search and bookmarking system. Which I guess boils down to either the patronage system, where you can sponsors people to write (ex: epic poetry) or the organizational system where you can distribute free content and then give kickback to the most popular authors like many blogging systems do. PS: Batoto.com is an odd mix as it returns money to people who translate works but not the original authors. Sort of like a pirates auction house. The advantage for users being a nice interface and rapid updates.
- icebraining 15y ago
  Except now the patronage system can be easily distributed instead of relying on rich people. I doubt it'll ever fund an "Avatar", but 2.9 million dollars is nothing to sneeze at: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/66710809/double-fine-adventure/ http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/66710809/double-fine-adv...
pessimizer 15y ago
I'm being very radical here, but the thought of the only books being published being by people who actually want to be read rather than waant to be rich is not a problem for me. For craftsmen whose primary goal isn't to communicate or entertain, I'd suggest patrons. I'd certainly sponsor about 1/50 of a writer spread across a curated pool. I'd probably sponsor about 1/200 of a curator. They wouldn't have to even send me the books, I'd just buy them from the printer with the best quality to cost ratio.
vacri 15y ago
Music-as-a-Service has been around as long as music.

waterlesscloud 15y ago

I look forward to all the source code and databases of the world to be made freely available to everyone. Of course engineers rely on intellectual property as much as anyone does.

icebraining 15y ago
IP here means "IP laws". Access to the source is a completely different issue. You don't need IP laws to protect your source: just don't distribute it.
- waterlesscloud 15y ago
  So if someone did get access to your source and data, by whatever means, it'd be fine to spread it at will? And for that matter, why should there be information security laws if there's no intellectual property?
  - icebraining 15y ago
    So if someone did get access to your source and data, by whatever means, it'd be fine to spread it at will? Not if they're bound by contract OR if they conspired with someone who was. In other cases, yes. But what we think of whether it's "fine" or not is irrelevant: it'll happen anyway (try looking for Norton source code on TPB). What it matters is whether we want to fund laws to fight windmills. And for that matter, why should there be information security laws if there's no intellectual property? There are many laws under that "banner". What laws do you mean? If you mean Data Protection, those are essentially mandatory contract terms. Regardless of whether they should exist or not, they're very different, because you're only bound by them if you enter in a contract (implied or not) with the person or company providing you with the data. Whether that data is "property" or not is irrelevant.
- mendocino 15y ago
  So it is OK for your employees (that you share your code and data with) to distribute it among third parties as they please?