bbgm - the discussion - Latest Comments in The value of information

Re: The value of information

mndoci — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:51:16 -0000

Pedro,

Yes there are advantages to be first to market, but first mover advantage only goes so far, especially in the absence of protection (e.g. Google was not the first search engine).

As far as knowing everything, that is contextual. For example, back in the late 90's there was value in providing pharma companies with target information, but after a while that became a commodity and therefore not a sustainable business. Didn't mean target information was not valuable anymore, but the value to pharma companies was not such that you could build a business on it.

As far as the collective being more creative, I definitely hope that is true, especially if the contribution from parts is diverse. It's an argument that is being made today as the industrial R&D; model changes. It is not possible for one organization to contain the requisite knowledge to be successful.

Re: The value of information

pedrobeltrao — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 11:35:23 -0000

There are always differentiators. Just the fact that you are the fist to develop a new method in the lab, even if you fully describe the method when you publish it your still in the leading edge and that gives you an advantage in working with that method or in making improvements.
I don't really agree with that idea that once everyone known something that there is no longer a competitive advantage in knowing that. No person can know everything and what a person or group does with that shared public knowledge is strongly dependent on the groups background. I think that in a very open world of knowledge it becomes increasingly difficult to be original as an individual because it is likely that someone out there has the same knowledge and mindset and ideas. However, as a sum we should be collectively more creative. There are many more different melting pots and discussions over this shared knowledge.
Even the simple act of having open discussions about this shared knowledge can be of value. We can learn how to argue our positions, to spot weaknesses in logic etc from observation.

Re: The value of information

Jean-Claude Bradley — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 04:45:01 -0000

I agree with you. Once the information genie is out of the bottle, you can't stuff it back in. The reason is simple - no matter how many people think information should not be free it only takes one person in the world to publish it. And with plenty of options for free hosting and indexing there is no cost barrier to that.

Just take what has happened to open course content. Many teachers wwere (and still are) paranoid about keeping their online class content closed. But it only takes one teacher in the world in a particular discipline to blow that up. A year after I started posting my recorded lectures in organic chemistry online, several other professors did the same thing, further enriching the global learning base. The same thing with textbooks - there are now several high quality university level organic chemistry textbooks freely available online. But most publishers still think that copyright control is the only card they can play.