Esther Dyson on the Value of Attention

Christian Ahlert writes "OpenBusiness talked to Esther Dyson about how business models are adapting to an internet environment that champions openness. Esther's upcoming PC Forum focuses on how users are transforming the internet and placing new demands on businesses. From Open Source to Open Content, new forms of organization, production and distribution are emerging. But how can these ventures produce a revenue and sustain themselves? For how long can we give content away for free?"

Comments

For how long can we give content away for free?

[MarkusQ]

For how long can we give content away for free?

I hate this question. You might as well ask "For how long can we afford to have sex without charging each other?" or "For how long can we make idle chit chat with random strangers without getting their billing information first?"

Or how about "How long can the sun shine without protection of its intellectual property?"

I'm as capitalistic as the next guy, but capitalism is a specific mechanism to resolve a certain specific class of problems in an efficient manner. It is not some universal mandate, and there's no reason to suspect that it imposes any sorts of limits on conduct that isn't covered by the model.

--MarkusQ

P.S. Please respond with your credit card numbers so I can bill you for spouting off. I've gotta eat, you know.