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From: gene@batman.UUCP (Gene Mutschler)
Newsgroups: net.micro
Subject: Re: New ideas on software piracy... Flames welcome.
Message-ID: <148@batman.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 31-Jul-85 22:37:46 EDT
Article-I.D.: batman.148
Posted: Wed Jul 31 22:37:46 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 3-Aug-85 06:31:19 EDT
References: <419@gumby.UUCP> <226@sesame.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: Burroughs Austin Research Center, TX
Lines: 33

Originally...
> > 	I have this idea floating around in my head that I can't get 
> > rid of. Why can't information be free?
> > 
> > 	I see the present system of software marketing as fading into 
> > the background, and that sooner or later, most computer software will 
> > be public domain or freeware.  
Mr Lerner Comments...
> Tell me this, if all software if public domain, who is going to
> sink 50 to 100 man-years developing the next generation of great
> software?  (The 50-100 man-year figure is only for development, there
> needs to be an equal amount of time put in for QA and documentation...)

Certainly there's no free information, for the same reasons that there's
no free lunch.  However, the orignal poster offered some interesting
ideas for (in effect) deriving sufficient income from information to
make its generation (at some level of sophistication) economically
feasible.  See the latest Byte for J. Pournelle's comments on some
stuff TI has done--in particular he asks if TI wants to price its stuff
so high ($15000 up front) that only a few people buy it or wouldn't
they really like to make it cheap enough so that everybody can try
it.  It is more than the principle of elastic demand.  The theory here
is that if more software developers use this tool from TI in their
products, the more chances that there will be another 1-2-3.  Hence,
more money for everybody.

[Disclaimer--I am not speaking on behalf of the Burroughs Corporation
and I do not price their products]
-- 
Gene Mutschler             {ihnp4 seismo ctvax}!ut-sally!batman!gene
Burroughs Corp.
Austin Research Center     cmp.barc@utexas-20.ARPA
(512) 258-2495