[thelist] a brain teaser

[john at johnallsopp.co.uk]

Could someone glue these together for me please?

I've been reading an old book called Webonomics which talks about the new
economic rules the Internet brings. The most interesting thing it talks
about is that the real world is all about scarcity of resources. There is
always more population and demand than the resources will support. The
price of everything rises as it becomes more scarce.

On the Internet, it says, this is reversed. There is more 'resource', ie.
data, pages, information, than people, and always will be. The scarcity is
in readers willing to read your page.

OK, now glue that together with something someone said to me recently.
Think of chocolate. You really want some chocolate. The first taste of the
chocolate is amazing. By the time you've finished the first bar you're
satiated, the by the end of the second bar you're sick. Scarcity makes
something more desirable. Once you have plenty of something, you lose the
desire for it.

I've had these two things in my head for a few days and I can't glue them
together into a single statement or theory. I guess what it's saying is
that the Internet was something everyone wanted when it wasn't here. But
now we've got it everywhere we're no longer interested.

Is that backed up? Is site traffic declining? If so, we're working in a
market no-one's interested in. I don't feel that to be true.

And what should be our reaction to it? I'm thinking that there's plenty of
information and data out there, but good sites, they're rare. Sites that
work and provide something you want, they're rare. Old economics can still
work if you think only of quality sites.

Or is it all a load of rubbish, I think too much, I should go and do some
work.

J