{"id":10884,"date":"2010-01-17T11:07:10","date_gmt":"2010-01-17T18:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=10884"},"modified":"2010-01-17T11:31:49","modified_gmt":"2010-01-17T18:31:49","slug":"what-does-information-wants-to-be-free-really-mean-it-doesnt-matter-how-long-you-spent-making-that-mudpie-it-aint-worth-nothing-to-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/10884\/what-does-information-wants-to-be-free-really-mean-it-doesnt-matter-how-long-you-spent-making-that-mudpie-it-aint-worth-nothing-to-me\/","title":{"rendered":"What does “information wants to be free” really mean? It doesn’t matter how long you spent making that mudpie, it’s worth nothing to me."},"content":{"rendered":"

Reflecting on Jeff Brown’s post on economics<\/a>, which in turn referenced an argument by Malcolm Galdwell<\/a>, I made a short movie explicating the meme “information wants to be free.”<\/p>\n

Cliff’s Notes: When a market good is so redundantly abundant as to be, essentially, ubiquitous and unavoidable, its market price will tend to plummet to zero. It doesn’t matter what the sellers of those goods might want to earn. All that matters, in this context, is what buyers are willing to pay. If the discounted probability of procuring an acceptable alternative is very high, then the price will tend to be very low.<\/p>\n

Ordinary information is ubiquitous and unavoidable, and, therefore, the market price it can command is effectively zero. What the sellers or anyone else thinks about that is irrelevant. I have no reason to pay even a penny to you if I can get “just as good” next door for free.<\/p>\n

That in turn references the very first post I wrote for BloodhoundBlog:<\/a><\/p>\n

If almost-as-good is free or nearly free, what is the market value of slightly-better?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The answer? Almost always zero.<\/p>\n

In the clip I talk about the difference in the paywalls of the Wall Street Journal<\/em> and the New York Times<\/em>. Ironically enough, there comes news this morning that the Times<\/em> plans to finish off its slow suicide with yet another tilt at a paywall<\/a>. Much good may it do them.<\/p>\n

Here’s the video:<\/p>\n

<\/param><\/param><\/param><\/object><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reflecting on Jeff Brown’s post on economics, which in turn referenced an argument by Malcolm Galdwell, I made a short movie explicating the meme “information wants to be free.” Cliff’s Notes: When a market good is so redundantly abundant as to be, essentially, ubiquitous and unavoidable, its market price will tend to plummet to zero. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,24,212,6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10884","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-disintermediation","7":"category-egoism-in-action","8":"category-flourishing","9":"category-marketing","10":"category-real-estate","12":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12092,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/12092\/ubiquitous-bloodhound-finally-makes-his-break\/","url_meta":{"origin":10884,"position":0},"title":"Ubiquitous Bloodhound finally makes his break","author":"Tom Johnson","date":"May 27, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"All of us, proprietors of this kennel included, have known that Odysseus was destined for the big time. Well, he finally got his break! Look for our pal anywhere a gorgeous face is needed. True confession: I was hiding in the bushes at a webinar (name withheld to protect the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/BHB2-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":18160,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/18160\/overnight-news-the-purge\/","url_meta":{"origin":10884,"position":1},"title":"Overnight News: The Purge?","author":"Greg Swann","date":"May 21, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"This is Marxism in one gerundive: Ants are to have been devoured by Grasshoppers. If you say, \"Then what?\" \u2013 you're out of the club, but that doesn't really matter: The goal is not their success but your failure. Civilization is created by Ants for Ants. What happens when civil\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Group Therapy"","block_context":{"text":"Group Therapy","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/group-therapy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ya think it's easy?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/BHBNewTopImage-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17805,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/17805\/overnight-news-racism-isnt-racism-when-its-anti-ant-racism\/","url_meta":{"origin":10884,"position":2},"title":"Overnight News: Racism isn\u2019t racism when it\u2019s anti-Ant\u00a0racism.","author":"Greg Swann","date":"February 4, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The idea of 'systemic' racism is stupid. People who habitually make poor choices always blame everything but themselves. But if you're looking for ubiquitous, constant, inescapable racism, I can point you to it: Follow elderly Asian women in poor neighborhoods in big cities on either coast. When they go out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Group Therapy"","block_context":{"text":"Group Therapy","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/group-therapy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ya think it's easy?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/BHBNewTopImage-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2055,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2055\/the-goal-of-any-billionaire-deflationary-abundance\/","url_meta":{"origin":10884,"position":3},"title":"The Goal of any Billionaire: Deflationary Abundance","author":"Sean M. Broderick, CCIM","date":"October 16, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"If you haven\u2019t subscribed to TED Talks videos on YouTube, then you\u2019re missing an advantage that some of the tech elite get months before we get a chance to see it online. 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