[pastProlog]

> I don't see any fundamental change in scarcity in the last few years.

I do. There have always been economies of scale, but the first shipment of Call of Duty costs tens of millions of dollars. Shipments #2 to #1000000 over the wire cost next to nothing.

A movie like The Avengers exhibits the same behavior.

Sixty years ago, a new car rolling off an assembly line of a Detroit factory was the epitome of the world economy, technology and engineering. Which was not all that different from the process of a weave rolling off a flying shuttle in 1740. This is a new thing, where piece #1 of a piece of IP is very costly, but the next few million pieces are cheap to produce.

To have a focus on the old thing of a scarcity of materials as this goes on seems to be missing the boat on what is happening. Not that I put much creedence in the scarcity focus before, but it has just become completely ridiculous.

[Retric]

The first car for a given model year might cost a billion dollars the second might cost 10k. So, it's more the gap has been growing than it's suddenly a new thing.

[internaut]

This is something I've been interested in, the idea of having a marginal cost lifestyle.

The main problem with it for physical items is that there is always a large upfront lump sum cost. A small hydroelectric system produces energy for practically free but costs a lot to build. It will last until your grandchildren are old though, it is a true investment.