Kevin Kelly: Better Than Free

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: dewayne () warpspeed com (Dewayne Hendricks)
Date: February 4, 2008 10:08:53 AM EST
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Kevin Kelly: Better Than Free

[Note:  This item comes from friend Robert Berger.  DLH]

From: "Robert J. Berger" <rberger () ibd com>
Date: February 3, 2008 2:17:21 PM PST
To: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>, David Farber <dave () farber net 
>
Subject: Kevin Kelly: Better Than Free

[This is one of the best descriptions of how to look at society's  
transformation of one based on scarcity to abundance I've read so far  
- Rob]

Better Than Free
Kevin Kelly Posted on January 31, 2008 at 6:21 PM
<http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/01/better_than_fre.php>

The internet is a copy machine. At its most foundational level, it  
copies every action, every character, every thought we make while we  
ride upon it. In order to send a message from one corner of the  
internet to another, the protocols of communication demand that the  
whole message be copied along the way several times. IT companies make  
a lot of money selling equipment that facilitates this ceaseless  
copying. Every bit of data ever produced on any computer is copied  
somewhere. The digital economy is thus run on a river of copies.  
Unlike the mass-produced reproductions of the machine age, these  
copies are not just cheap, they are free.

Our digital communication network has been engineered so that copies  
flow with as little friction as possible. Indeed, copies flow so  
freely we could think of the internet as a super-distribution system,  
where once a copy is introduced it will continue to flow through the  
network forever, much like electricity in a superconductive wire. We  
see evidence of this in real life. Once anything that can be copied is  
brought into contact with internet, it will be copied, and those  
copies never leave. Even a dog knows you can't erase something once  
its flowed on the internet.

This super-distribution system has become the foundation of our  
economy and wealth. The instant reduplication of data, ideas, and  
media underpins all the major economic sectors in our economy,  
particularly those involved with exports -- that is, those industries  
where the US has a competitive advantage. Our wealth sits upon a very  
large device that copies promiscuously and constantly.

Yet the previous round of wealth in this economy was built on selling  
precious copies, so the free flow of free copies tends to undermine  
the established order. If reproductions of our best efforts are free,  
how can we keep going? To put it simply, how does one make money  
selling free copies?

I have an answer. The simplest way I can put it is thus:

When copies are super abundant, they become worthless.
When copies are super abundant, stuff which can't be copied becomes  
scarce and valuable.
When copies are free, you need to sell things which can not be copied.

Well, what can't be copied?

There are a number of qualities that can't be copied. Consider  
"trust." Trust cannot be copied. You can't purchase it. Trust must be  
earned, over time. It cannot be downloaded. Or faked. Or counterfeited  
(at least for long). If everything else is equal, you'll always prefer  
to deal with someone you can trust. So trust is an intangible that has  
increasing value in a copy saturated world.

There are a number of other qualities similar to trust that are  
difficult to copy, and thus become valuable in this network economy.   
I think the best way to examine them is not from the eye of the  
producer, manufacturer, or creator, but from the eye of the user. We  
can start with a simple user question:  why would we ever pay for  
anything that we could get for free? When anyone buys a version of  
something they could get for free, what are they purchasing?

From my study of the network economy I see roughly eight categories  
of intangible value that we buy when we pay for something that could  
be free.

In a real sense, these are eight things that are better than free.  
Eight uncopyable values.  I call them "generatives." A generative  
value is a quality or attribute that must be generated, grown,  
cultivated, nurtured. A generative thing can not be copied, cloned,  
faked, replicated, counterfeited, or reproduced. It is generated  
uniquely, in place, over time. In the digital arena, generative  
qualities add value to free copies, and therefore are something that  
can be sold.

[snip]


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