On 01/21/2010 12:20 AM, Huib Laurens wrote:
Why would anybody want to buy it if it is possible to download it for free?
This is a topic that's getting a lot of attention. For example, Kevin Kelly lists 8 things that are better than free:
http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/01/better_than_fre.php
In our case, some of them don't apply. But I could see us making use of personalization, interpretation, embodiment, and patronage. I also think we could sell a sense of association if we wanted to. Social status is another good along these lines (think premium members and first-class tickets) but I don't immediately see a way Wikipedia could make use of that.
I note that just last night I was browsing EBay to see what a set of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica goes for. For $10, I could get it on DVD. Or I could pay hundreds for a physical set. I would never buy the DVD, but I might buy the physical set. And I already own a reproduction of the 3-volume 1768 edition.
Any practical reason I'd come up with for purchases like that, or my Addams Family pinball machine, would be tenuous justifications. I buy those things not for the things themselves, but because I love the idea of those things. It seems reasonable to me that people love the idea of Wikipedia just as much.
William