Economics, Shmeconomics (was RE: IP Protection ...)

[Eirikur Hallgrimsson]

On Saturday 30 June 2001 17:37, Bill Humphries wrote:
> Wow! This would be the germ of an idea for a great alternate history 
> novel.

Maybe this is obvious, but "The Victorian Internet", while true,
and full of rather surprizing data, doesn't hold a candle to the
Gibson/Sterling novel "The Difference Engine," in which the Engine actually 
gets constructed and England has the industrial revolution and the computer 
revolution at the same time.    A simple idea, but not so simple in making it 
all work together believably.

The other thing this recent thread reminded me of was Microsoft's collective 
farming of software.   My recollection (from "Accidental Empires") is that 
one of their major engineering managers grew up (and first worked) behind the 
iron curtain.   

Eirikur