Writing: the democratic art form

by Matthew Stibbe on August 24, 2006

A rare bottle of wine can cost thousands of pounds.  Your own personal Picasso will run to millions.  Even lunch at The Fat Duck (probably the best restaurant in the world) costs more than 100 Big Macs.

But the collected works of Shakespeare or a PG Wodehouse novel or the latest issue of The New Yorker costs you the same as it costs the Duke of Westminster.  How cool is that?

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    { 4 comments… read them below or add one }

    Steve Clayton August 24, 2006 at 10:12 pm

    Democracy in action…and the world is getting flatter of course :) I suppose some stuff lends itself to ubiquity and hence low cost but there will always be some things (normally of a physical nature) that will retain their high value to to exclusivity (real or not) or plain old scarcity. A lot of other stuff, particularly digital is about to feel the back lash of The Long Tail I expect – http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/minisites/longtail/

    Reply

    Owen Lystrup August 25, 2006 at 2:36 am

    This semester I’m studying King Richard III.

    Someone in the class remarked how, during a visit in France, Shakespeare was the only piece of universal literature he could find, since he didn’t know French.

    I love Shakespeare.

    Reply

    Instinctive Travelle August 25, 2006 at 8:35 am

    Coke. You forgot Coke. :)

    Reply

    Michael Wagner August 27, 2006 at 6:34 pm

    There is a wonderful effect when ideas are shared. The digital marketplace of ideas is changing the world.

    I’m with Owen – Shakespeare is awesome!

    Now you have me saving up all of my Big Mac money for a lunch at the Fat Duck!

    From the other side of the pond – thanks for enlarging the conversation.

    Reply

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