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<blockquote data-quote="Balesir" data-source="post: 5536094" data-attributes="member: 27160">Of course they are in business to make a profit - that was originally my point.&nbsp; But when production capacity is in practical terms unlimited and production cost is close to zero, that does equate to getting maximum paid for (at some level) units in use.&nbsp;You are getting all confused in your examples, here.&nbsp; &quot;Charging (only) the cost of lumber and labour&quot; is the equivalent of selling for the marginal cost - which is zero in the case of digital downloads.&nbsp; I.e. it is the equivalent of saying WotC should give away the software for free.&nbsp; I'm not suggesting that; for a business it would be a crazy thing to do.&nbsp; Selling the CB (or any other software) for any price at all is selling above marginal cost - which is something any business has to do to survive.&nbsp; If production capacity is limited (and I would be very keen to hear of any boatyard or hot tub factory where it is not), there is a minimum premium above the marginal cost that you have to sell at, even assuming demand will sell you out.&nbsp; If production capacity is massively larger than demand (at little or no capital cost), as is the case with downloadable software, then the only factor that sets the minimum premium is the demand.&nbsp; I imagine this was just the issue WotC had (although I have no way to know, for sure).&nbsp; If so, they had to do something, certainly.&nbsp; But as I said above, I think there were far better options available than what they actually did, which was to change from a sales-and-service agreement to a rental agreement (for the same price!).&nbsp;That's like saying every person who doesn't buy a boat costs the boatyard profit when they pay a fare to use the ferry.&nbsp; If the revenue for the OCB wasn't enough, the answer was simple - put the price up.&nbsp; That price hike didn't need to come via deciding the boats are now only available for rent, and they reserve the right to reclaim the boat if either you stop paying or they just no longer feel like taking your money for it.&nbsp; Oh, and no other boatyard has any right to make boats to actually sell to you, because this boatyard has exclusive rights to all boats.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Balesir, post: 5536094, member: 27160"] Of course they are in business to make a profit - that was originally [I][B]my[/B][/I] point. But when production capacity is in practical terms unlimited and production cost is close to zero, that does equate to getting maximum [B]paid for[/B] (at some level) units in use. You are getting all confused in your examples, here. "Charging (only) the cost of lumber and labour" is the equivalent of selling for the marginal cost - which is zero in the case of digital downloads. I.e. it is the equivalent of saying WotC should give away the software for free. I'm not suggesting that; for a business it would be a crazy thing to do. Selling the CB (or any other software) for any price at all is selling above marginal cost - which is something any business has to do to survive. If production capacity is limited (and I would be very keen to hear of any boatyard or hot tub factory where it is not), there is a minimum premium above the marginal cost that you have to sell at, even assuming demand will sell you out. If production capacity is massively larger than demand (at little or no capital cost), as is the case with downloadable software, then the only factor that sets the minimum premium is the demand. I imagine this was just the issue WotC had (although I have no way to know, for sure). If so, they had to do something, certainly. But as I said above, I think there were far better options available than what they actually did, which was to change from a sales-and-service agreement to a rental agreement (for the same price!). That's like saying every person who doesn't buy a boat costs the boatyard profit when they pay a fare to use the ferry. If the revenue for the OCB wasn't enough, the answer was simple - put the price up. That price hike didn't need to come via deciding the boats are now only available for rent, and they reserve the right to reclaim the boat if either you stop paying or they just no longer feel like taking your money for it. Oh, and no other boatyard has any right to make boats to actually sell to you, because this boatyard has exclusive rights to all boats. [/QUOTE]

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