I wrote: >>>> Software depreciates very quickly, so that it's more like a raw material than like fixed capital.<<<<
Ian: >>> Depreciates quickly in terms of exchange value, not use value. Logic, math and funky grammars are the raw material.<<< >>it also depreciates as when a new version of the software is introduced.<< Ian:> That's what I was saying. Did Outlook Express 6.0 *really* devalue Outlook Express 5.0 if you still use the latter to get all your communication via email done? What are those who have not upgraded missing in their lives?< the problem is that the "network economies" are a double-edged sword. MS Word's popularity not only helped it become more popular -- since "everyone else" was using it (especially within a corporation) -- but it also destroyed WordPerfect. Outlook Express 6.0 may not have "really" depreciated Outlook Express 5.0, but MS likely thought up some way -- some bug or incompatibility -- to make it harder for those with OE 5.0 to communicate with those using OE 6.0 than it had been to communicate with those with OE 5.0. WordStar Lives! JD
