[ExI] RES: mit's answer to the stanford ai class

[Adrian Tymes]

On Sat, Dec 24, 2011 at 7:38 AM, Jeff Davis <jrd1415 at gmail.com> wrote:
> In the old paradigm business model the product or
> service provider controls the price:don't have the bucks, don't get
> the goods.  In the internet (information) model the buyer controls the
> price.  Which is to say the buyer will pay whatever he or she is
> willing to pay.
>
> Old paradigm thinking holds that given the choice between getting
> something for free or paying, people will universally and always opt
> for free.  I disagree.  I think it is in the nature of people to seek
> social acceptance, and the drive for that will always make people want
> to "do the right thing", which means paying that (small) amount that
> balances the need for social acceptance and the constraints of
> personal economic circumstances.  The poorest of the poor then, will
> access the information services for free, but once they derive an
> economic benefit, I predict they will chip in.

A nice theory, but it falls through when getting stuff for free becomes
socially acceptable - and there seems to be inherent pressure for that
to happen, if allowed.  Take something for free because it's useful to you
and you didn't have money to spare?  That's always understandable -
and so tolerance is given, and then more people do it, and then it
becomes the norm.