Comments on: The economic case for open source (for Google, Nokia etc.) http://www.yes-no-cancel.co.uk/2008/01/10/the-economic-case-for-open-source-for-google-nokia-etc/ Entrepreneurship, web technology and the user experience Thu, 04 Dec 2008 04:08:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: Martin Kleppmann http://www.yes-no-cancel.co.uk/2008/01/10/the-economic-case-for-open-source-for-google-nokia-etc/#comment-1043 Martin Kleppmann Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:32:08 +0000 http://www.yes-no-cancel.co.uk/2008/01/10/the-economic-case-for-open-source-for-google-nokia-etc/#comment-1043 Wallis - I think in technology, in many cases the greatest value is in services (which are delivered over the web, which are provided by software, which runs on hardware). Selling licenses of off-the-shelf software is maybe getting harder, because many free alternatives are available, but selling useful services over the web is getting easier, particularly in a B2B context. Then people effectively pay for the convenience of not having to install and maintain the software themselves, but margins for the developer are still good. I really don't know why there isn't more web software activity in Cambridge; I doubt that it is for commercial reasons. More likely that it is historic (one semiconductor company will typically spin off another semiconductor company, not a web business). Wallis - I think in technology, in many cases the greatest value is in services (which are delivered over the web, which are provided by software, which runs on hardware). Selling licenses of off-the-shelf software is maybe getting harder, because many free alternatives are available, but selling useful services over the web is getting easier, particularly in a B2B context. Then people effectively pay for the convenience of not having to install and maintain the software themselves, but margins for the developer are still good.

I really don’t know why there isn’t more web software activity in Cambridge; I doubt that it is for commercial reasons. More likely that it is historic (one semiconductor company will typically spin off another semiconductor company, not a web business).

]]> By: Wallis http://www.yes-no-cancel.co.uk/2008/01/10/the-economic-case-for-open-source-for-google-nokia-etc/#comment-1038 Wallis Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:23:52 +0000 http://www.yes-no-cancel.co.uk/2008/01/10/the-economic-case-for-open-source-for-google-nokia-etc/#comment-1038 Hi Martin! I just discovered your blog and have read a couple of posts. This one is really interesting... I have been wondering why Silicon Fen is not so strong regarding software companies, and does not promote or help them as much as hard technology ones. It might be that the money is not really in software,as its price is being constantly pushed down, and it is used as a means to raise the value of its complementary (eg hardware or advertising)... Any theories on that regard? Cheers! Hi Martin! I just discovered your blog and have read a couple of posts. This one is really interesting… I have been wondering why Silicon Fen is not so strong regarding software companies, and does not promote or help them as much as hard technology ones. It might be that the money is not really in software,as its price is being constantly pushed down, and it is used as a means to raise the value of its complementary (eg hardware or advertising)… Any theories on that regard? Cheers!

]]>