Re:Google collects metadata from Android phones
by dredmorbius on Saturday July 02, 2016 @11:59PM
(#12024764)
The problem is separable in that it is conceptually possible to make organisation for software development independent of the business organisation that uses it. We've had this in the past, we have it now, though typically in smaller pieces. It's largely how Unix was developed (an unlikely consortium of a company which quite literally wasn't allowed to sell the product, but could make use of it, and a group of academic institutions in need of both computing tools and training projects), Usenet, the WWW, Linux, Apache, Debian, and more.
Your point that many Free Software projects make little money (at least as Free Software projects) misses the more salient point that they generally don't need to. Scratching itches, low barriers to collaboration, and solving problems in other application spaces makes this possible.
The giants' very reliance on vast revenue flows is also a vulnerability.
And no, I'm not arguing that costs disappear (though efficiencies do appear), but rather that they're distributed and loaded throughout numerous other organisations and activities making money on their own.
The "90-99% of buyers" problem is precisely why you look at funding alternatives which bypass per-copy market sales. I've been looking into the history of publishing and creative works, it's an interesting space. Patronage, busking/performing, crown sanction (essentially a content tax), BBC tax, etc. Information goods and markets interact very poorly: https://redd.it/2vm2da
(UC Berkely / Google economist Hal Varian has an extremely similar treatment which I ran across recently.)
The detachable headphones and mics comment was a reference to an earlier exchange we had, I thought you might recall it.
Your bust-out-of-the-box model isn't too far from what I'm suggesting for content tax/syndication. Whether voluntary (free-rider problem) or compulsory (politically difficult but possibly inevitable) you're distributing contribution to a shared resource. Much as, say, we ended up with language or the law.
Patent threats are also somewhat diminished through small pockets (less attractive target), or might be addressed specifically via legislation and/or international treaty. Say, something with a different philosophy than the TTP, TTIP, TiSA, and BITS crud being shoved down our throats by Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, IBM, AT&T, et al.
Your point that many Free Software projects make little money (at least as Free Software projects) misses the more salient point that they generally don't need to. Scratching itches, low barriers to collaboration, and solving problems in other application spaces makes this possible.
The giants' very reliance on vast revenue flows is also a vulnerability.
And no, I'm not arguing that costs disappear (though efficiencies do appear), but rather that they're distributed and loaded throughout numerous other organisations and activities making money on their own.
The "90-99% of buyers" problem is precisely why you look at funding alternatives which bypass per-copy market sales. I've been looking into the history of publishing and creative works, it's an interesting space. Patronage, busking/performing, crown sanction (essentially a content tax), BBC tax, etc. Information goods and markets interact very poorly: https://redd.it/2vm2da
(UC Berkely / Google economist Hal Varian has an extremely similar treatment which I ran across recently.)
The detachable headphones and mics comment was a reference to an earlier exchange we had, I thought you might recall it.
Your bust-out-of-the-box model isn't too far from what I'm suggesting for content tax/syndication. Whether voluntary (free-rider problem) or compulsory (politically difficult but possibly inevitable) you're distributing contribution to a shared resource. Much as, say, we ended up with language or the law.
Patent threats are also somewhat diminished through small pockets (less attractive target), or might be addressed specifically via legislation and/or international treaty. Say, something with a different philosophy than the TTP, TTIP, TiSA, and BITS crud being shoved down our throats by Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, IBM, AT&T, et al.