Subject: Re: IP: Wal-Mart PC, Operating System *Not* Included: $399 (fwd)
To: None <netbsd-advocacy@netbsd.org>
From: paul beard <paulbeard@mac.com>
List: netbsd-advocacy
Date: 02/22/2002 15:01:56
Charles Shannon Hendrix wrote:
> It's a self-fulfilling prophecy when you say X can never happen and
> thus never try.
This argument can extend to a number of areas but we have to
realize that people get paid to make decisions about what will or
won't sell, given the market, and that sometimes means good
products never see the light of day.
The corollary to that as I read this thread is that each dollar
you spend or product you buy is a vote: you buy domestic products
and support domestic industries, regardless of price or value
received.
So take a look around: PC components are made where? China? Do we
support China (or wherever)'s record on human rights or free trade
or copyright protection?
How about the clothes we wear? We could all buy US-made stuff but
it costs too much since we have to pay US workers a US wage: far
cheaper to pay a Mauritian wage to a Mauritian. If you put a pair
of socks or jeans from each country on the shelf, priced to make a
comparable profit, I doubt the US-made ones would move as quickly.
Is that wrong?
So what does this have to do with any of the foregoing? That these
decisions are not problems with a single right answer: there's
guesswork and risk and often mistakes. And yes, there are
principles involved but they're rarely as bound up in moral and
ethical concerns as this thread would have it: it's more to do
with making enough of a return to keep the lights on another day.
Think of the products that were clearly superior in their markets
that failed nonetheless: the canonical example has always been
beta vs vhs. Contrary to popular belief, beta equipment and media
are still very much alive, but used by professionals. The quality
of vhs was good enough or conversely, the quality of beta didn't
justify its price.
Are you willing to pay the difference it would take to support
someone providing a product or service? That's the bottom line,
not fairness.