Meanwhile, the big issue in the press is music piracy.
Man, do those guys ever have it easy. What a cakewalk compared to developing technology!
But that's a poor comparison anyway, since it's a stretch to say that producing a new tune involves innovation. We should be much more concerned about the 'playing field' in technology, because that's where increases in productivity and standard of living come from. We all benefit from a new technology once it spreads out, whether or not the inventor makes a buck. However, if piracy reduces the return on tech, it will garner a smaller share of investment capital, and growth in productivity will slow from the recent high rate.
In contrast, the music biz basically involves a zero-sum redistribution of wealth. It can't be a driver of the global economy for that reason, imo, but it can ride new delivery mediums as they are developed. One could argue that the listening experience is more varied or more efficient with MP3s than it was with phonograph records, but these improvements are in the medium, not in the content.
WT |
