Give it Away Now
Thomas Claburn,
Salon,
May 24, 2002
I think there is a solid lesson to be learned here for people who are princing online learning. "You want to stop piracy? Make your CDs affordable. I'm not going to spend three hours turning and burning a CD ... if it's an $8 CD." What gets me about this article is the brief lesson on CD economics. "The CD itself costs about 32 cents in a large production run... Add packaging and the price goes to 54 cents. Add the cut for a new artist, somewhere between 10 and 50 cents, and your cost nears a buck." According to the RIAA, CD's retail for an average $14.02 (all figures in U.S. dollars). This is why there is piracy, and it's as simple as that. Now, over to education. The same logic applies. The actual cost of delivering learning online can be very low. But online learning providers - and especially universities - have been in no rush to lower prices. Now I know, there will be all sorts of moaning and groaning about how much it costs to create and deliver top quality education. Well, yeah. But such costs only create an environment where piracy and quackery thrive (hence all the agony about copy protecting textbooks and journals, degree mills, non-accredited institutions and more). I have said it before and I will say it again: the only way to preserve the public education system (and most of your jobs) is to make education affordable.
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