From: sdw@meaddata.com (Stephen Williams)
Date: Sun, 24 Apr 94 21:52:19 PDT
To: tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)
Subject: Re: The un-BBS
In-Reply-To: <199404250422.VAA17668@mail.netcom.com>
Message-ID: <9404250452.AA13846@jungle.meaddata.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


...
> When the costs are underwritten by others, and the marginal cost to an
> employee or student is zero or near zero, I call that a subsidy. The
> pencil example is indeed a subsidy, just as when we often hear things
> like "Intel is subsidizing the costs of lunch for its employees."
> 
> (Subsidies occur for various purposes.)
...
> The point is that this "free" (marginally, at least, and largely free
> even in overall terms) service will generally outcompete one which
> offers similar services but which requires the user to pay for his use
> in a standard sort of way.
> 
> And, yes, these same arguments apply to why corporate and government
> users, whose access to the Net is provided by their employer, will
> also pick a service that has zero marginal cost to them over a service
> (like FidoNet) that may cost them hundreds of dollars a month for a
> feed (I won't get into the range of FidoNet connections, or what
> telecom pricing trends will means, etc.).
> 
> (Again, I am making no arguments here for or against the subsidization
> of students or employees. Merely commenting on a competitive fact of
> life about the Net.)
> 
> --Tim May

I yield... I was overly sensitive to anything that might be
construed to be continuing the idea that the Internet is mostly Gov.
funded...  I should have known that you knew better.  (I'll plead
cronic exhaustion: 15 hour days for the last week to finish a
project...  slippery fingers deleted 1500/5MB worth of email last
night...  One way to catch up.)

I agree with your point.

sdw
-- 
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