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On Fri, 21 Apr 1995 DRGardner@aol.com wrote:

> in response to craschke@du.edu who had said,
> 
> >Culture of the "net" has already been established as one in which people 
> >do not pay per unit of information. It is likely that "customers" will 
> >resist metering the net, no matter how worthy the objective.
> >If no one will pay, or if the supply overwhelms the demand, then the 
> >"exchange value" of the commodity - to borrow a phrase from Adam Smith - is 
> >driven downward.

When Gutenburg invented the printing press, scribes were no longer 
needed.  The scribes became "type setters" (originally carving the masters)
and bibles, which had been the scarce property of the Aristocratic 
Theocracy and Royalty, were suddenly available to local parish priests 
and middle-class parishoners.  In fact, the middle class was largely a 
byproduct of the proliferation of books and the general availability of 
simple mathmatics.

On the flip side, the only book originally printed was the Bible, and 
even that was contriversial.  Once people began learning to read, they 
wanted more books on different subjects.  I read once that the second
book ever printed was considered pornography (at the time).
(It was years ago, don't ask for the reference).

Today, the abundance of information (nearly 1 page/person/day) collected 
and distributed through public and private segments of the internet 
infrastructure can be very overwhelming.

Today, people will use on-line sources to locate and research that which 
interests them most.  Because you are going directly after their "hot 
buttons" the information collected is intrinsically more valuable at the 
"leaves".  Whether it's a publisher looking for an easy to use HTML 
editor, or a transvestite looking for the woman of his dreams, the 
prospect of a "hit" and the potential benefits (abundant wealth or 
everlasting love) drive the custer to be willing to pay to publish and to 
subscribe.

> I'd suggest that it changes the marketplace in fundamental ways and that old
> rules don't apply -- or, at the least, they must be applied in new ways.

The old rules apply, but in very new and different ways.

	Rex Ballard


From rballard@cnj.digex.net Wed May  3 22:32:37 1995