modessitt
Volunteer: Encyclopedia Submission Moderator
Here's something I've been thinking about lately. I'm going to use an example that does not apply for reasons that may become apparent later.
Let's say that Pac-Man boards were plentiful, but that Ms. Pac-Man boards were not, and that it was considered impossible to convert a Pac-Man board to a Ms. Pac-Man board. This causes Pac-Man boards to sell for about $100, but Ms. Pac-Man boards to sell for up to about $250.
Now, let's say that you figure out a way to convert a Pac-Man board into a Ms. Pac-Man board, and that it can be done for about $20 in parts and less than an hour of labor. Do you:
a) Post instructions online so anyone can do it? This will also have the effect of causing Ms. Pac-Man boards to go down in price by quite a bit as people won't have to track one down at great expense.
b) Buy Pac-Man boards and convert them and resell them as Ms. Pac-Man boards? Or charge people to convert them?
You could make quite a bit of money with obtion b. At least until someone buys one from you and then figures out how you did it and either spreads it all out there for free or starts doing it themselves and undercutting you.
So, would you put the hobby (posting free info to help others) or the wallet (making as much money as you can before the info gets out) first?
The reason I ask is - I might be on the cusp of figuring out how to change something that is found easily into something that isn't with minimum cost and effort...
Let's say that Pac-Man boards were plentiful, but that Ms. Pac-Man boards were not, and that it was considered impossible to convert a Pac-Man board to a Ms. Pac-Man board. This causes Pac-Man boards to sell for about $100, but Ms. Pac-Man boards to sell for up to about $250.
Now, let's say that you figure out a way to convert a Pac-Man board into a Ms. Pac-Man board, and that it can be done for about $20 in parts and less than an hour of labor. Do you:
a) Post instructions online so anyone can do it? This will also have the effect of causing Ms. Pac-Man boards to go down in price by quite a bit as people won't have to track one down at great expense.
b) Buy Pac-Man boards and convert them and resell them as Ms. Pac-Man boards? Or charge people to convert them?
You could make quite a bit of money with obtion b. At least until someone buys one from you and then figures out how you did it and either spreads it all out there for free or starts doing it themselves and undercutting you.
So, would you put the hobby (posting free info to help others) or the wallet (making as much money as you can before the info gets out) first?
The reason I ask is - I might be on the cusp of figuring out how to change something that is found easily into something that isn't with minimum cost and effort...



