Business models of the new web: the economics of content, software and social networks
In my graduation paper, I take a look at current monetization strategies of various online properties like newspapers and social networks and explain in plain language (supported by previous studies and my own research), why these business models survived and not others.
New business models and strategies for monetization are proposed for online content and social networks. Also, there is a brief explanation of the startup market (meaning the acquisitions of startups). I guess this would be insightful for anyone who is about to launch a startup or have built a social application that he has trouble monetizing.
Here is the paper in PDF, it is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported license.
No rights, only incentives
I’ve been arguing all the time that the rights your government gives you are worth nothing. Anyone is free to violate any of the rights given to you unless the punishment is not severe enough to prevent it. The punishment is the incentive and works only to the extent that it is sufficient and everyone is rational. There is, therefore, no warranty against others violating your rights. »»»
Silence does not solve problems
There is a kind of people who argue that if you’re using something, you should not critique it. Not that they hold it as a philosophical view, they just always say, in a more or less aggressive way, “Don’t use it if you don’t like it!”. You’re likely to hear this if you start complaining about Windows for example. In Russia, you’ll hear it if you talk about the infinite number of problems — from total corruption to total unfreedom of speech and political monopoly. “Go live in America if you don’t like it here!” »»»
Leave-me-alone box
Machine-in-itself. Via Machine Thinking. leavemealonebox.com.
Dumb electronics
Most TV sets I’ve dealt with cost hundreds or thousands of dollars and forget current time once they are unplugged or in case of power outage.
Really no excuses
Apple now offers 2 million more DRM-free songs at iTunes Music Store, and guess what, they now offer it in 265 Kbps, for $0.99 per song. Thank you, Amazon. Why this matters.
2084
You know, robots will never take over the human kind. Never ever, because they can’t be intelligent enough to have a clear purpose of existence. We [humans], however, may well live just for the sake of life. That’s possibly our greatest competitive advantage, apart from the ability to modify the environment.
No excuses
It’s half a year already that Apple started selling DRM-free music at its iTunes music store. Soon it will start selling music with higher bitrate — 256 Kbps probably (my prediction). The reason for this is dead simple — eliminate all excuses for downloading music illegally »»»
