Digital Renaissance asked me to summarize a recent discussion:

Why are we expected to fill our homes with ugly junk, such as CD’s, DVD’s, pocket books, to the extent that we have to go and buy ugly junk shelves from IKEA to get organized. I can’t wait for the day that some burglar will free me from the hundreds of discs that I’ve shoved up to the attic, so that i can reclaim some of that lousy investment from insurance.

Ah, but what then should we do with all our hard earned wealth? I think the answer is consumption, not stockpiling. Stockpiling is bad for the economy at all levels. What’s hot is being where the action is, part of the flow etc. That’s also where content producers can capitalize on the unique advantage of availability. Nobody can copy or steal och infringe on being first, instant and overwhelming. Consumers need to be able to link up intimately with the creative process of content producers and are surely willing to pay for it—A, because there’s no better alternative and, B, because they get intimate, and therefore sympathetic beyond the point of gratitude and generosity. Copyright becomes something expensive to forget.

So, exclusive instant access to the process of creation rather than the product of creation: It’s like sushi: Made before your eyes. It’s fresh. You buy it. It’s gone.