Post 8 - Selling the Image

Having started out this course with defining information, it is interesting to read, in a selection from Carl Shapiro's Information Rules, a book about technology and business, that "anything that can be digitized-encoded as a stream of bits-is information."Already established was their idea that "Information is costly to produce but cheap to reproduce." What was not discussed within the context of this information was how to sell it. For example, the book suggests selling information in different formats. For example, different editions of DVDs, or services with or without ads.

Another concept re-visited, though briefly,  is the problem of copying. "Digital information can be perfectly copied and instantaneously transmitted around the world, leading many content producers to view the Internet as one giant, out-of-control copying machine." Part of the problem is that
"information is an experience good every time it's consumed." The text defines "a good [as] an experience good if consumers must experience it to value it." In other words, to know what you're getting is valuable, you have to know what it is; feel it, read the synopsis, play with a demo. The internet is full of free samples that are almost products in themselves in our endless ability to browse through their experience.

"Browsing is only part of the story. Most media producers overcome the experience good problem through branding and  reputation. The main reason that we read the Wall Street Journal today is that we've found it useful in the past." This is also true for many technological companies, such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and many others that have established a powerful reputation and brand.

"Image is everything in the information biz, because it's the image that carries the brand name and the reputation." The book goes on to emphasize that a hoard of internet traffic is directed at pictures, and therefore images are invaluable. I wonder, then, why going into artistic fields is still not considered an important job, or lucrative for that matter. It might also be helpful to question why people insist on free visual media, along with music and other information. Perhaps an artist's work is no longer considered valuable investment because people think that all you need for great image and design is a computer and the know-how for the right programs, but that is not necessarily true. Personally, I work for a T-shirt graphics company on campus, and they will still have me draw things out for designs before moving them into the computer at times for a special look.

Perhaps the devaluation has more to do with our information overload. as Herbert Simon was quoted, "a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention". Now, companies like Google thrive because"The real value produced by an information provider comes in locating, filtering, and communicating what is useful to the consumer." No one wants to spend so much time sifting to find what they need. Even ads are streamlined to be what we want to see. We no longer have the attention for broadcast information, as we are quickly responding to the current market catering like a spoiled child to babying parents. As the author writes, "the product that is expected to become the standard will become the standard."