>I just had a brain fart. A lot of software is available for sale as a >download. It had no physical existence before I downloaded it (or >afterwards, as far as I know) but the companies still charge for the >download. I guess they should let me download for free since I'm not >getting a physical item?
Uh, YEAH. That's kinda the point of my whole argument. Eventually, whether "companies" (a term that will no longer exist when people can replicate whatever they want for themselves) want you to or not, everyone will be able to "download" anything they want for free. You want a new car? Download the specs from the Internet of the future, and "print" it using your 3D replicator/printer, which converts raw subatomic particles (like from the air) into whatever you need. Again, lest you think this is mumbo-jumbo, bear in mind that it is well agreed upon among futurist think-tanks that this technology is less than 200 years away (as I said, it already exists on a small scale in laboratories at MIT) and that "money" is truly on the brink of extinction. We're simply seeing the very early stages of it right now. Centuries from now, students in "economics" classes (read: history classes) will look back on the early 21st century and laugh at how everybody panicked when they realized that software and music and videos were infinitely replicable, and that they could no longer make money off them. Oh no, what do we do?! How can we possibly live without our old ways of thinking?! We're doomed, doomed! Same way people reacted when they realized the Earth wasn't flat, and they were no longer the center of the universe. Ones entire world-view has to change. ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe send a mail message with a SUBJECT line of "unsubscribe" to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
