Gift economy, Google Sketchup, and Composting Toilets
Gift economy and intellectual production
I have already said that the commercial model is not the right tool for the promotion and the exchange of ideas. When the cost of replicating something is close to zero, applying a model that was invented to deal with scarcity is just nonsensical. Yet, it is what the French representatives are trying to do right now, by legislating clumsily against illegal downloading, motivated by music labels lobbying, and handicapped by an obvious ignorance of how the internet works.
I claim that piracy is not the same thing as theft: when one downloads songs or software, one does not deprive the author of his work. Yet the legislators are trying to make it sound as theft, although we are already paying a tax on all data recording materials (CDs, DVDs, hard drives) as a compensation to the music industry.
In my ideal music world, all music would be self-produced and self-distributed on the web, and artists would be paid either by subscriptions and donations like Radiohead, and/or by selling concert tickets. The web would contribute to their fame, so that I would know and love them when they come on tour near where I live. Probably fewer musicians would become millionaires. Bummer. But I think there are not many musicians who choose music as a way to make money. Behind every artist is a giver. Artists want to give and share pleasure with people. All we need to do to make sure they keep on giving, is to keep them alive (and happy). And I had much rather donate to my favorite artists than buy from their music labels.
Linux and Google
There are two flourishing gift economy examples on the web right now that I want to write about. One is Linux, the other is Google. The motivations are different, but the benefits to the world are huge.
Linux is pure gift: not only can everybody have a free better-than-commercial-grade operating system, but no contributors to Linux can ever get it back and claim it’s theirs. In order to promote the idea of freedom, the licenses behind Linux are made so that nobody can confiscate the code. You can sell a bit of open-source code, but you have to leave it open. Essentially, this tends to force the selling price of any generic code to zero, while still allowing premium charging for specific code (e.g. I want Linux integrated with my business’s accounting system) and consulting support. Because it’s free, it does not show in terms of GDP. But the value Linux brings to the world economy is considerable. The simplest estimate would be Linux market share (10%) x Microsoft revenue (60 bn $), and you have a 6 billion dollar industry powered by pure gift.
Google have understood this, but they want a more tangible share of the benefits, therefore they have a more cunning business model than pure gift. They distribute things for free, but they still like to hold the keys. Then they can leverage the power they have over those keys, in addition to selling ads (which unfortunately I see as official spam).
Google Sketchup
Now a personal example. I stumbled upon a Google tool named Sketchup. It makes 3D drawing as easy as 1-2-3. With its quality, it is on par with 500$ tools for the general public, or 5000$ tools if we consider professional tools (e.g. architecture & construction). And it is distributed for free. It is not open-source, Google can decide one day that version n+1 will be charged 100$, but right now, it is a gift to the world, and more specifically a gift to me.
Some years ago, I had practiced with illegal copies of professional 3D software (3D studio MAX), but had failed to keep up with new versions. Over the past few months, I had been hovering around blender and K3D, two great free and open-source tools, but I found them too complex for what I needed. I do not need to produce a CG animation movie. All I want is sketch my projects in 3D for the next stretch of renovation in my house, and it should not take me longer than sketching them on paper.
And then comes Sketchup. The underlying paradigm is revolutionary, and the upfront personal investment is extremely light. There is also a really fine feature, generally available only with top-notch commercial tools: non-photorealistic rendering. It make 3D look like handmade sketches. Way nicer than pure 3D, which feels bland unless adorned with hi-res textures.
If Google had distributed their tool for 100$ it would still have been extremely cheap for what it can do (and probably considered as dumping by the competition). But I would not have bought it. Not even at 10$. Probably because I would never have known it; and even if I’d known it, and they offered free demo versions, I would not have tried, because 3D sketching was really so unimportant in my hierarchy of things that I would not have bothered. So would everyone else.
But because it was free, I was just one click on a download button away from trying it and loving it. After two hours of toying with the Sketchup toolbar, I could draw a satellite. The next day, I drew my project of composting toilet. Google do not know it, but their contribution to my composting toilet was crucial. I avoided probably four mistakes in the overall design. I found three good ideas. I now have all the dimensions of all the parts I have to make and/or order. And I have a great 3D blueprint that I can share with everybody else on Earth, because I know they can have Sketchup for free.
This example shows how this gift has cascaded into a series of benefits, first for me, and then maybe for the whole world if my initiative contributes to the publicity of composting toilets (I believe composting toilets are the future of sanitation and therefore human health, especially for dry, poor countries). The immediate benefit to Google is that I will obviously contribute my models back to their Sketchup 3D warehouse, so that all architects who want to put a composting toilet (or a spacecraft) in a project will save a couple hour’s work, then they will love Sketchup, then they will buy Sketchup pro, because they know how cool the free version is, and they’ll trust that the pro features are worth the few extra bucks.
So despite the ads, hurray for Sketchup and Google! I doubt that those guys are giving things just for the pleasure of giving. But I do wish more people did as they do.
Last minute: Google chrome
Google have just released a brand new web browser. Apparently, it is full of high quality innovations in terms of software innards (pretend to be a geek and read the comic-book release notes). As always, it is free, but it is now even open-source. We can understand what they gain in the bargain: by releasing top-quality tools as open-source code, they are encouraging everyone to adopt their choices as future web standards. Cunning.
Still, this is a fabulous gift. Again.
