Stephen Downes

Miguel Guhlin adds another plank to the argument offered by people like Marc Watkins and Audrey Watters. "When you want to get everyone hooked on a product, you release it for free. Read the AI's description of AI Lock-In Strategy at the end of the post (oh, the irony)." The lock-in strategy is a lovely read, and people should quite rightly take it as a warning. But it isn't AI that's the problem, is it? The same strategy is described by Shapiro and Varian in Information Rules, published in 1999. It's what publishers did with books and then e-books. The product isn't the problem, the companies that control the product are. Educated people should be able to see the difference.