Comments on: Why Buy The Cow When You Can Hear It Moo For Free? http://thenoisychannel.com/2009/03/17/why-buy-the-cow-when-you-can-hear-it-moo-for-free/ Wed, 28 Jul 2010 22:14:35 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Josh Young http://thenoisychannel.com/2009/03/17/why-buy-the-cow-when-you-can-hear-it-moo-for-free/comment-page-1/#comment-2399 Josh Young Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:23:58 +0000 http://thenoisychannel.com/?p=1660#comment-2399 The short answer, by my lights, is yes, absolutely. But note that what drives the price of the moo to zero is more than that it's free to copy. It's an "experience good," in the economic jargon, meaning people don't know whether it's worth paying for till after they've heard it. It has close substitutes, meaning the horse's bray is nearly as amusing. It's "non-rivalrous," meaning my enjoyment of it doesn't impair yours. And it's "non-excludable," meaning you couldn't really prevent my enjoyment even if you wanted to. The only characteristic the moo has going for it is maybe that it's durable; unlike news, we never tire of our cow noises. Even if it's not inevitable that content that can be reproduced for free will be free, I suspect that most of us would do well to accept it as inevitable anyhow. The short answer, by my lights, is yes, absolutely. But note that what drives the price of the moo to zero is more than that it’s free to copy. It’s an “experience good,” in the economic jargon, meaning people don’t know whether it’s worth paying for till after they’ve heard it. It has close substitutes, meaning the horse’s bray is nearly as amusing. It’s “non-rivalrous,” meaning my enjoyment of it doesn’t impair yours. And it’s “non-excludable,” meaning you couldn’t really prevent my enjoyment even if you wanted to. The only characteristic the moo has going for it is maybe that it’s durable; unlike news, we never tire of our cow noises.

Even if it’s not inevitable that content that can be reproduced for free will be free, I suspect that most of us would do well to accept it as inevitable anyhow.

]]> By: Daniel Tunkelang http://thenoisychannel.com/2009/03/17/why-buy-the-cow-when-you-can-hear-it-moo-for-free/comment-page-1/#comment-2397 Daniel Tunkelang Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:30:18 +0000 http://thenoisychannel.com/?p=1660#comment-2397 Point taken. So should we simply accept the inevitability that content that can be reproduced for free will be reproduced for free? It certainly would simplify the discussion. Point taken. So should we simply accept the inevitability that content that can be reproduced for free will be reproduced for free? It certainly would simplify the discussion.

]]> By: Josh Young http://thenoisychannel.com/2009/03/17/why-buy-the-cow-when-you-can-hear-it-moo-for-free/comment-page-1/#comment-2396 Josh Young Tue, 17 Mar 2009 18:16:35 +0000 http://thenoisychannel.com/?p=1660#comment-2396 Isn't the obvious, if facile, answer to your question that you might want its milk too? It's much harder to make a satisfying digital representation of matter for a lactophile than it is to make one of sound for an audiophile. Isn’t the obvious, if facile, answer to your question that you might want its milk too? It’s much harder to make a satisfying digital representation of matter for a lactophile than it is to make one of sound for an audiophile.

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