Here's a simple example, if an imperfect analogy:
People have embraced "pay-at-the-pump" because it's secure, flexible, and -- most important -- convenient. It doesn't matter whether you're pumping 87-octane or diesel. It doesn't matter whether you're pumping into a car or a gas can. It doesn't matter whether your scrip is credit or debit. You just swipe the card, pump the precise amount of fuel that you want, and get a receipt recording the who-what-where-when-and-how-much of the matter.
I will repeat something about analogies:
Many are possible. None is perfect. But a comparison to electricity and its metering may be useful.
When alternating current became the standard for commercial electric service, Edison initially felt that utilities would have to charge flat rates for its delivery. Why? Because he despaired of developing a fair, efficient, economical meter.
The Wavemeter represents a fair, efficient, and economical meter for the distribution of digital intellectual property. A direct analogy to the metering of electricity is not perfect. For example, using digital information does not "consume" it the way using electricity consumes energy. Thus, "conservation" does not represent the same inherent good with respect to information that it represents with respect to electric power. Still, the attractiveness of being able to effect accurate microtransactions in digital content -- so you can buy the piece of a database that you need and not pay an economic rent on the rest of that database -- is compelling.
Best wishes. |
