Re: gEDA-user: More footprint stuff

[Magnus Danielson <cfmd@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

From: Marvin Dickens <marvindickens@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: gEDA-user: More footprint stuff
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 21:41:57 -0500
Message-ID: <200501272142.01835.marvindickens@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

> On Thursday 27 January 2005 8:26 pm, Stuart Brorson wrote:
> > The basic problem with software is explained by Capitalist Economics
> > 101:  Software's marginal cost of reproduction is basically nil, so
> > in a ideally competitive market its price will tend over time to
> > zero.  Ways to get around this iron law of economics are:
> >
> > *  Disrupt perfect competition, e.g. somehow become a monopoly, or
> >    prevent customers from having a real choice in the market place.
> 
> 
> > *  Keep the market in flux via research and/or constant introduction
> >    of new features/products, so that prices can never asymptote all
> >    the way to zero.
> 
> > *  Don't sell software.  Give it away as a loss-leader for some other
> >    product which doesn't have zero cost of reproduction.
> 
> 
> > You can see all three methods at play in the real world all the time.
> >
> > Stuart
> 
> There is always IBM's favorite: Tie the software to the hardware so you can't
> use the hardware without the software and visa-versa.

Actually, it wasn't until IBM started charging for software that others also
started to see buissness in selling software itself.

If they only had avoided that step. :/

Cheers,
Magnus