Renick Bell said the following on 20/01/2003 3:58:
quoted 10 lines How much time and money is it going to cost to download an album over a shared 56k>>How much time and money is it going to cost to download an album over a shared 56k
>>
>>
>dialup from a Calcutta cyber cafe, or somewhere similar in Thailand, China, Brazil, etc?
>
>[...] if you are one of the lucky minority in Shanghai who can afford
>a PC (which is as cheap as the states, if not cheaper), then the cost for obtaining
>something via p2p is considerably cheaper [...]
>
>
Sure; but the fact that a small fraction of the global music-buying
population can choose to use p2p to acquire some fraction of the music
they want doesn't mean that record labels are now obsolete, which was
the original assertion.
quoted 8 lines There's a widely held misconception state-side that America is technologically superi>There's a widely held misconception state-side that America is technologically superior
>to anywhere else on the planet. More Americans ought to travel more; they'd begin to see
>that life in America isn't so grand, or at least doesn't have a monopoly on reasonable
>standards of living. There is little doubt that many more people suffer than belong to
>the wired class (for a variety of reasons); but Americans are often ignorant about the
>truth of living standards in various places around the world.
>
>
Maybe the misconception you describe does exist; as a Brit living in
Australia I wouldn't know. I don't think "technologically superior" is
the correct term, though; your reference to the "wired class" is more
accurate as disposable income is a big factor, but the commoditisation,
marketing and geographic availability of web access are also all
significant.
-- R