ESR on identity-good value

(I've been reading Eric Raymond's blog "Armed and Dangerous" now and then... I had no idea that he was such an egocentric, right-wing, gun-nut (And those are just posts since January 1! Full disclosure: I am probably slightly egocentric, left-wing and know how to maintain and operate a few different types of rifles... handguns are made to kill people... I'm no gun-nut, though). ESR is, however, quite brilliant and a superb writer...)

ESR offers up an interesting read about the value of hardcopy books versus web versions when both are available. He suggests that print-versions of web-available books are more likely to be an identity good -- that is, a good that you feel you should have because of the type of the person (you think) you are. The corollary is that people will see such goods and associate you with an identity:

Here's the causal connection. A web version can't be an identity, good, because it doesn't sit on your bookshelf or your coffee table telling everybody (and reminding you!) who you are. But Web exposure can, I think, help turn a book with the right kind of potential into an identity good. I suspect there is now a population of psychologists and social workers who perceive the InstaWife's book is an identity good, and that (as with my stuff) that perception was either created or strongly reinforced by web exposure.

I, of course, have a different more-nebulous theory: people tend to use web-available books... perusing for information, entertainment, etc. whereas people tend to value, covet, dog-ear, etc. the hard-copy books... there just ain't no loving a computer for the eBook it contains (at least I think there isn't!). After spending a significant amount of time with a web-book, I bet people are more likely to 1) feel guilty that they don't own it and 2) convince themselves that their own experience with the content within necessitates owning a chunk of dead trees.

As for me, I tend to buy books of all sorts just because I loath reading large pieces of text on the computer... and they haven't made a eBook reader that is transparent enough for me to enjoy reading on one. However, I wish every book came with a text-version CD... most importantly so that danah won't have to throw books and scream "grep, you piece of shit! GREP!"

Posted by joebeone at Enero 7, 2004 11:00 PM