When marginal cost falls to almost zero . . .
. . . business models have to change. Anybody's who's read Carl Shapiro and Hal Varian's Information Rules knows this, as does anybody who took NC State's ECG514, "The Economics of Information Goods".
But if you haven't had those opportunities, and would like to a way to quickly catch up--and also learn a little about the history of disposable razor blades--I recommend Chris Anderson's "Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business", (Wired magazine, three months ago; link courtesy of my older daughter.)
The podcast from Econtalk last week had Chris Anderson and Russ Roberts discussing the 'Free' article and Anderson's upcoming book. Very interesting discussion if only to hear Roberts constantly refute Anderson's assertion that there IS such a thing as a free lunch.
Posted by: Stuart | May 28, 2008 at 09:51 PM